Photographic Reidentification of a Bowhead Whale in Davis Strait

Abstract

An adult bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) photographed at Isabella Bay, Baffin Island, on 28 September 1986 was reidentified from a photograph taken off West Greenland (Arctic Ocean) on 10 April 1990. The "recapture" distance was about 460 km across Davis Strait. The recapture is consistent with historical knowledge of the seasonal distribution of bowhead whales and is supportive of the hypothesis that bowheads circulate within the Baffin Bay-Davis Stait area as part of a discrete stock.