A new scientific paper suggests that the industrial hunting of great whales such as sperm, blue, fin and right whales has masked the ability of these underwater giants to also live to great ages. The study indicates that the same lifespans may apply to right and fin whales as Arctic bowhead whales, which are known to reach 200 years old or more.
A barnacled right whale, so named because they were the ‘right’ ones to hunt for their oil. While the southern hemisphere’s population is doing well, they are functionally extinct in the eastern Atlantic and fewer than 400 remain off North America. A barnacled right whale, so named because they were the ‘right’ ones to hunt for their oil. While the southern hemisphere’s population is doing well, they are functionally extinct in the eastern Atlantic and fewer than 400 remain off North America.
Moby Dick was a grizzled old sperm whale that had miraculously escaped the harpoons. But a new scientific paper is set to prove what oceanic peoples –– have long believed: that whales are capable of living for a very long time. Indeed, many more than we thought possible may have been born before Melville wrote his book.
It has been known since the 1990s that Arctic bowhead whales, with their slow metabolism enabled by cold waters and plentiful food, can reach 200 years old or more, as indicated by carbon-dating of old Inuit stone harpoon tipsBut the new study indicates that the same lifespans may apply to right and fin whales. The first scientific reports of “extraordinary longevity” came when scientists examined the earplugs of fin and blue whales hunted by Japanese whalers in the late 1970s.
The scientists achieved their new findings by analysing the lifespans of two similar species: the southern right whale – found below the equator – and the North Atlantic right whale,but now almost entirely confined to the eastern coast of the US. They discovered that up to 10% of the thriving southern species live past 130 years. Of the much-hunted northern species, only 10% lived beyond 47 years. The conclusion is clear: left alone, whales can live to be very old.
Whales Longevity Industrial Hunting Right Whales Fin Whales
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