These drawings show the bowhead whale, the species hunted by arctic whaling men. The bowhead migrates north each year to feed on small animal plankton which live close to the surface of the ocean. Opening its large mouth as it swims along, the whale draws in a large quantity of seawater. As the mouth closes the water is squeezed through the baleen back into the ocean but in the process the tiny animals are strained out, held and swallowed. The baleen is like a net in which the whale catches its food. For a time it was feared that the bowhead had been hunted to the point of extinction but recent sightings suggest the species has multiplied.
