Bowhead whales are the longest-lived mammals on Earth, surviving over 200 years, yet their Arctic habitat is changing faster than for almost any other species, threatening this extraordinary lifespan.
Bowhead whales represent a profound conservation and welfare case — animals that have lived through centuries of human history now face accelerating threats from climate change, shipping, and noise pollution in a compressed time frame. Their extraordinary longevity means that individual animals experiencing welfare harms have had that wellbeing across what would be equivalent to multiple human generations. Noise pollution from ships and seismic surveys disrupts their complex acoustic communication and foraging behavior. Collisions with vessels cause traumatic injuries. The melting of sea ice they depend on for hunting and avoidance of killer predators represents an existential welfare and survival threat.