Right Whales and Bowhead Whales: Balaenidae

Like all baleen whales, bowhead whales and right whales migrate. They spend the colder times of the year in warmer water closer to the equator and then move towards the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica where they spend the rest of the year. They do most of their feeding in the colder regions, and give birth in the warmer areas. Female right whales and bowhead whales give birth to one young at a time after a year of pregnancy. The young are nursed for about six months. They reach maturity after eight or nine years. Right whales can live as long as seventy years, but bowheads can live even longer, some past one hundred years.

Right and bowhead whales are known for their songs and the other types of sounds they make. Some people have described these sounds as grunts, roars, growls, belches, complex screams, or pulses. In the springtime, bowhead whales send out complicated songs with themes, sets of notes that are repeated. It is thought that these serve as communication between males and females.