There Are Whales Alive Today Who Were Born Before Moby Dick Was Written
Some of the bowhead whales in the icy waters off of Alaska today are over 200 years old
By Rose Eveleth
smithsonian.com
January 9, 2013
In Alaska’s North Slope, the population of bowhead whales seems to be recovering. But that’s really not the coolest part of this Alaska Dispatch story. Instead, it’s this, noticed by Geoffry Gagnon:
That’s right, some of the bowhead whales in the icy waters today are over 200 years old. Alaska Dispatch writes:
Bowheads seem to be recovering from the harvest of Yankee commercial whaling from 1848 to 1915, which wiped out all but 1,000 or so animals. Because the creatures can live longer than 200 years — a fact George discovered when he found an old stone harpoon point in a whale — some of the bowheads alive today may have themselves dodged the barbed steel points of the Yankee whalers.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written-660944/#dfjtfDdpUkWuACC8.99
