A bowhead whale has two blowholes through which it breathes at the ocean surface.
Bowhead whales are baleen whales, and their paired blowholes are located near the top of the head. When a whale surfaces, warm, moist exhaled air creates a visible spout as it meets the cold Arctic atmosphere.
The blowholes are separate from the whale’s mouth. Bowheads filter-feed by swimming with their mouths open and using long baleen plates to strain tiny organisms, especially copepods and krill, from seawater.
A bowhead can remain underwater for a long time before surfacing to breathe. Its massive skull is adapted for breaking through sea ice, while its thick blubber protects it in waters that can approach the freezing point.