The Bowhead Whale

John Craighead ‘Craig’ George Ph.D. is a wildlife biologist who has lived in the Arctic and studied bowhead whales for 40 years. He has published more than 50 scientific papers on the species, on topics ranging from their physiology and reproduction, to their migratory pathways, and their behavior. He is a leading specialist on issues relating to conservation and management of bowhead populations and has served as a member of the US delegation of the International Whaling Commission. He is keenly involved in issues related to subsistence hunting of whales by Indigenous peoples, and the traditional knowledge that these cultures have of whale biology. J. G. M. ‘Hans’ Thewissen studies the evolution, anatomy and embryology of marine mammals, and has travelled the world to study fossil and living whales. His work with the sense organs of modern whales explores the impact of global change on marine mammal populations. He co-edited the three editions of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals and wrote a popular book on whale evolution: The Walking Whales.

Section I: Basic Biology 1. Higher-Level Phylogeny of Baleen Whales 2. Fossil Record 3. The Stocks of Bowheads 4. Distribution and behavior of Bering-Beaufort-Chukchi bowhead whales as inferred by telemetry 5. Distribution, migrations and ecology of the populations in the Atlantic and the Okhotsk Sea 6. Abundance 7. Life History, Growth, and Form 8. Prenatal Development 9. Anatomy of skull and mandible 10. Postcranial skeleton and musculature 11. Hematology, Serum- , and Urine Composition 12. Anatomy and Physiology of the Gastrointestinal System 13. Female and Male Reproduction 14. Anatomy and Function of Feeding 15. Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Systems 16. Thermoregulation and Energetics 17. Brain 18. Sensory Systems 19. Endocrinology and Blubber Physiology 20. Molecular Insights into the Derived Anatomy and Physiology of Bowhead Whales 21. Age Estimation 22. Acoustic behavior 23. Bowhead whale behavior: Natural and potentially disturbed 24. Ecological Variation in the Western Beaufort Sea

Section II: The Bowhead Ecosystem 25. The Physical Oceanographic Setting of Bowhead Whale Habitat 26. Biological Environment of Bowhead Whale Habitats 27. Bowhead whale ecology in changing high-latitude ecosystems 28. Diet and Prey 29. Predators Impacts of Predation 30. Diseases and Parasites

Section III: Interactions with Humans 31. Whaling in Indigenous Cultures of the Arctic 32. Current Indigenous Whaling 33. Commercial Whaling in Historical Times 34. The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Research and Management of the Bowhead Whale 35. Effects of noise 36. Fishing gear Entanglement and Vessel Collisions  37. Contaminants 38. Conservation and Management  39. Past, Present, and Future