Fig 1. Bowhead and belugas share bi-annual migratory routes but bowheads likely experience more dramatic seasonal shifts in feeding patterns.
Migration in both species occurs as a result of increasing sea ice cover and decreasing daylight in the Autumn. While beluga whales are pelagic and benthic feeders with probably more frequent feeding bouts, bowheads experience caloric restriction and dramatic, seasonal shifts in feeding due to differences in Arctic productivity (Quakenbush et al. 2010 and Citta et al. 2012)