In the first sighting in almost 50 years a bowhead whale, the thick-bodied species that live in Arctic waters, was spotted in Nemuro Strait off the Hokkaido town of Rausu in Japan. The last sighting of a bowhead whale near Japan was in Osaka Bay in 1969, nearly half a century ago. The “Evergeen” sightseeing boat, run by a local tour company called “Shiretoko Nature Cruise,” spotted the whale in waters about 1 kilometer from Rausu port at around 9:30 a.m. on June 23