Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Mammalia > Order: Cetartiodactyla > Family: Balaenidae > Genus: Balaena > Species: Balaena mysticetus

Bowhead whale - Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758

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Quick facts

Threat status Europe	Not Applicable (IUCN)
Protected by	EU Habitats Directive and 2 other international agreements

Distribution

The distribution map is currently disabled. A new map solution will soon become available. In the meantime, please consult other species distribution map providers listed in the Other resources panel below.

Threat and conservation status

IUCN Red List status of threatened species

The IUCN Red List threat status assesses the risk of extinction.

World

Least Concern

Europe

Not Applicable

IUCN Red List Category

Not Evaluated	Near Threatened	Regionally Extinct
Not Applicable	Vulnerable	Extinct in the Wild
Data Deficient	Endangered	Extinct
Least Concern	Critically Endangered

Sources:

EU conservation status

Conservation status assesses every six years and for each biogeographical region the condition of habitats and species compared to the favourable status as described in the Habitats Directive. The map shows the 2013-2018 assessments as reported by EU Member State. Assessments are further detailed in the summary document available behind the link below.

Good: the species is viable and maintaining itself on a long-term basis, its natural range is not reduced, and it has a sufficient large habitat.
Poor: the species is not as critical as being unfavourable-bad, but still requires significant conservation and restoration measure to make it viable in the long-term, or to enlarged its current range, or to improve the quality and availability of its habitat.
Bad: the species is either not maintaining itself on a long-term basis and is not viable, or its natural range as been or is being drastically reduced, or its habitat is largely insufficient; the species requires major conservation and restoration measures.
Unknown: the information available for the species is scarce and does not allow a proper assessment of its conservation status.

Natura 2000 sites

Not available

Legal status

Mentioned in the following international legal instruments and agreements

Legal text	Annex	More information
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora - consolidated version 01/01/2007 (EU Habitats Directive)	Annex IV: animal and plant species of community interest in need of strict protection. (All species of Cetacea)	http://ec.europa.eu/environm...rective/index_en.htm
Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats (Bern Convention)	Annex II: strictly protected fauna species	http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cul.../bern/default_en.asp
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. (Bonn Convention)	Annex I: migratory species which are endangered and must be protected by Parties	http://www.cms.int/

Common names and synonyms

Common Name	Language	Reference
baleine franche boréale	French	OSPAR Convention Annex V
Bowhead whale	English	OSPAR Convention Annex V
Grønlandshval	Norwegian	Direktoratet for Naturforvaltning

Synonym	Author
All species of Cetacea

Other resources

CoL (accepted name)	Catalogue of Life
EoL	Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea search	Fauna Europaea
GBIF	Global Biodiversity Information Facility
ITIS (Valid name)	Interagency Taxonomic Information System
NCBI search	National Center for Biotechnology Information
PESI (Accepted)	Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure
Species+	Species+ by UNEP-WCMC
Wikipedia	Wikipedia
WoRMS	World Register of Marine Species

External data

No external data sets available for this species

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