Apr 21, 2014 12:59 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

It's difficult enough to spot a whale during a trip dedicated to spotting them. It's even more difficult to see one native to much more northern waters. About a week and a half ago, however, researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown saw a bowhead whale, one of only two the center has ever seen so far south in its history, the Delhi Daily News reported.

"This is yet another remarkable sighting in what has been a remarkable several years in our studies of Cape Cod Bay, said Dr. Charles Mayo, Director of the Center for Coastal Studies Right Whale Research program.

Bowheads make their home in the Arctic Ocean and the far reaches of the Atlantic and Pacific. They're rarely seen even off the coast of Maine, much less Cape Cod. Stocky (for a whale) with a half-moon shaped jaw resembling a bow (hence the name), the bowhead whale grows between 45-60 feet long and weighs 75-100 tons. They may not be the most commonly seen whales, but they have the species' trademark size.

The bowhead's cartoonish jaw makes them quite the sight in the open seas. That they would travel so far south indicates a changing climate and the whales' response.

"Two years ago we saw our first bowhead, an animal that should be 1000 miles from Cape Cod, then last year we saw the first calving of a right whale in Cape Cod waters, and now we have a bowhead again here, this time feeding with right whales," Mayo said. "These observations along with extraordinary number of rare right whales in Cape Cod Bay seem to be pointing to profound changes in the coastal habitat, to which the whales are responding." 

Last year, scientists discovered a new whale organ in a bowhead whale. Located on the roof of the mamal's mouth, it's believed to regulate body temperature as well as detect prey and control baleen growth.

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