From the Times Online: Weapon found in whale makes it more than 100 years old.
A fragment of a weapon used by commercial whalers in the late 1800s has been found in a massive bowhead whale caught off Alaska last month – suggesting that the whale was more than a century old.
The tip of a bomb lance thought to have been manufactured in the 1880s was discovered in a bowhead that was harvested in a traditional ‘subsistence hunt’ conducted by the Inupiat, an Alaskan Eskimo tribe.
The fragment shows that the 49ft whale, which weighed about 50 tonnnes, could be nearly 130 years old, said Craig George, an Alaskan wildlife biologist.
"It was probably at least a yearling when it was struck, because the whalemen never took calves," Mr George added.
The find adds to recent evidence that bowhead whales have [continue]
As always, you’ve posted a very interesting article. The comments after it were just as interesting, in their own way. I’m currently reading a murder mystery set in Alaska, so article is timely in a special way for me. Thanks.