Northern bottlenose whales (NBW; *Hyperoodon ampullatus*) are a deep-diving species of beaked whale only found in the offshore waters of the North Atlantic. Heavily exploited by a century of whaling, their remote pelagic habitat and depleted populations make them a difficult cetacean to study. Much of what is known about their basic biology comes from whaling records and a long-term study of a small resident population off Nova Scotia. However, little is known about their ranging behaviour or life history and the recovery of their populations is uncertain. The isotopic composition of NBW tissues reflects geographic variation in pelagic ecosystems, including isotopic signatures from deep-water food-webs (as deep-water squid is their primary prey) and temporal integration of the North Atlantic primary production baseline. Bone tissue has regenerative properties and is thought to be representative of the diet and stable isotope enrichment that occurred over the last few years (or longer) that an animal was alive. Isotope markers can be used to interpret large scale differences in population structure and migratory behaviour, which is important baseline information for the management and recovery of populations. The publication of this dataset reflects the work of an international collaboration and is part of a larger effort to assess variation in stable isotope values of NBW across their range.
