Bowhead whales are amazing creatures that often live lives longer than humans! These whales live in Arctic waters near the North Pole, smashing through thick ice to reach the surface to breathe. Using their baleen, these large mammals feed on tiny animals swimming in the cold waters, while thick blubber keeps them warm in frigid temperatures. Readers explore their everyday lives using the latest scientific research about these long-living animals, and colorful photographs show these gigantic creatures and their unique features up close and personal.
The Bowhead Whale: Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions covers bowhead biology from their anatomy and behavior, to conservation, distribution, ecology and evolution. The book also discusses the biological and physical aspects of the Arctic ecosystem in which these whales live, with careful attention paid to the dramatic changes taking place. A special section of the book describes the interactions of humans with bowheads in past and present, focusing on their importance to Indigenous communities and the challenges regarding entanglement in fishing gear, industrial noise and ship strikes. This volume brings together the knowledge of bowheads in one place for easy reference for scientists that study the species, marine mammal biologists, but, equally important, for everyone who is interested in the Arctic. - Presents the only current book dedicated to this species - Includes short, high-impact chapters that make it possible to review all bowhead biology in one compact volume - Illustrated with never-before published photos of bowheads in their natural environment - Provides a platform for an in-depth understanding of indigenous whaling
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers the full text of the February 15, 2001 article entitled "Bowhead Whales May Be the World's Oldest Mammals," written by Ned Rozell. The university presents the article as part of the Alaska Science Forum. Rozell discusses various methods of determining the ages of bowhead whales. Some stone harpoons, believed to be at least one hundred years old, have been found in bowhead whales.
This book is intended to be a cohesive species account of the bowhead whale. Chapters detail the Bering Sea population, evolutionary relationships and classification, anatomy and physiology, behavior, foods and feeding ecology, reproduction, morbidity and mortality, distribution and movement, population size and dynamics, commercial whaling, subsistence whaling, and the influence of man and his activities.
From the most celebrated children’s nature writer of our time comes a posthumous new novel in the tradition of her Newbery award-winning Julie of the Wolves In 1848, a young boy witnesses a rare sight—the birth of a bowhead, or ice whale, he calls Siku. Years later, he unwittingly brings about the death of an entire pod of whales, and only Siku survives. For this act, the boy receives a curse of banishment. Through the generations, this curse is handed down: Siku returns year after year, in reality and dreams, to haunt the boy’s descendants. Told in alternating voices, both human and whale, Jean Craighead George’s last novel shows the interconnectedness of humankind and the animals they depend on. “It’s a bold, wistful, and heartfelt coda to a distinguished career.”—School Library Journal
Bill Hess --a noted photographer -- began his association with the Inupiat Eskimos in 1982. Eventually, he got permission to accompany them on their historic whale hunt. This book is his record, in sensitive text and almost 200 stark images, of what he experienced. Hess explores Inupiat history and traditions juxtaposed against contemporary life, never shying away from the controversial aspects of this ancient trek. Gift of the Whale is a rare contribution to Native history.
"This thesis describes investigations on bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) specifically on age, growth, morphology and energetics. The examined whales were harvested by Inupiat whale hunters primarily in Barrow, Alaska since the 1970s. Bowheads are robust cetaceans reaching 19m in length and inhabit most of the ice-covered waters of the circumpolar Arctic. They have the thickest blubber (>̲ 35 cm) of any cetacean and the longest and most extensive baleen apparatus. Bowheads grow rapidly from 4 to ~8 m in their first year, after which they experience a 2-3 year growth pause in both body length and mass. However, the baleen continues to grow during this period. Sex differences are minimal but adult females tend to grow longer than males and have smaller pectoral limbs. Several lines of evidence, including the recovery of 19th century stone weapons from recently harvested whales, suggest bowheads are the longest-lived mammals. Age was estimated using the aspartic acid racemization technique which suggests that sexual maturity occurs in the mid-20s with maximum ages to 200 years. All harvested whales examined showed strong thermal gradients through their blubber and through the muscle, the latter being atypical of most mammals. The deep body temperature averaged 33.8° C which is lower than in other non-hibernating eutherian mammals. An elevation of body temperatures in pursued whales was not noted. Resting metabolic rates for whales were estimated using a heat-loss technique. The thermal conductivity of the blubber averaged 0.23 Wm−1K−1, similar to that of other whales and marine mammals. Heat flux rates were highest for the palatal rete, flukes, and tongue, and lowest for the thorax. The estimated metabolic rates were considerably lower than predicted by the Kleiber regression. These investigations suggest that bowhead whales arc unique among mammals in several respects including: their extensive baleen rack, massive head, great longevity, lower resting metabolic rates and body temperatures than in other cetaceans, and an approximately 3 year growth pause following weaning. Their thick blubber likely buffers bowheads against high variability in primary and secondary productivity in arctic seas"--Leaf iii.
Wild animals do the most extraordinary things. Some are exceptionally bright, use tools and solve complex problems. Others are devious: they cheat, steal and run protection rackets. There are animals with enormous appetites and those that self-medicate. Then we come across the extreme travellers: the highest flyers, the deepest divers and the fastest runners. But which animal is the most venomous, and which the most dangerous? Which has the loudest voice, the longest tongue, the biggest eyes or the most powerful bite? How do animals tell the time? How did the zebra get those stripes? And what is the most mysterious animal on Earth? The Frog with Self-cleaning Feet is a miscellany of fascinating animal anecdotes, facts and figures. The weird, the wonderful and the downright unbelievable of the animal world - you couldn't make it up!
A thought-provoking treatise on understanding and treating the aging mind and brain This handbook recognizes the critical issues surrounding mind and brain health by tackling overarching and pragmatic needs so as to better understand these multifaceted issues. This includes summarizing and synthesizing critical evidence, approaches, and strategies from multidisciplinary research—all of which have advanced our understanding of the neural substrates of attention, perception, memory, language, decision-making, motor behavior, social cognition, emotion, and other mental functions. Written by a plethora of health experts from around the world, The Wiley Handbook on the Aging Mind and Brain offers in-depth contributions in 7 sections: Introduction; Methods of Assessment; Brain Functions and Behavior across the Lifespan; Cognition, Behavior and Disease; Optimizing Brain Function in Health and Disease; Forensics, Competence, Legal, Ethics and Policy Issues; and Conclusion and New Directions. Geared toward improving the recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of many brain-based disorders that occur in older adults and that cause disability and death Seeks to advance the care of patients who have perceptual, cognitive, language, memory, emotional, and many other behavioral symptoms associated with these disorders Addresses principles and practice relevant to challenges posed by the US National Academy of Sciences and National Institute of Aging (NIA) Presents materials at a scientific level that is appropriate for a wide variety of providers The Wiley Handbook on the Aging Mind and Brain is an important text for neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, physiatrists, geriatricians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and other primary caregivers who care for patients in routine and specialty practices as well as students, interns, residents, and fellows.
