Bowhead whales

Classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, bowhead whales summer in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, migrate through the U.S. Beaufort Sea into the Chukchi Sea, and winter in the northern Bering Sea. Bowhead whales are an important subsistence species and are hunted in the spring and autumn as they pass coastal Alaskan villages in the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Noise, oil pollution, and climate change are important concerns. Photograph courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).