Weapon Found in Whale Dated From the 1800s

LABarr writes "AP and CNN are carrying a story that has forced scientists to re-evaluate the longevity of mammals. A bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt over a century ago. 'Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old. The bomb lance fragment, lodged in a bone between the whale's neck and shoulder blade, was likely manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling center at that time. It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890.' "

Finally

[GWLlosa (800011)]

Captain Ahab ALWAYS gets his whale... Eventually.

Not the first time

[Bombula (670389)]

This isn't the first time this has happened. I believe in one of Bill Bryson's books - probably 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' - he mentions a whale being found with a hand-thrown inuit spearhead embedded in its blubber. Or something along those lines... Anyway, it put the age of the animal well over 100 years.

Re:Not the first time

[poot_rootbeer (188613)]

he mentions a whale being found with a hand-thrown inuit spearhead embedded in its blubber. Or something along those lines... Anyway, it put the age of the animal well over 100 years.

Rather, it puts the age of the spearhead at well over 100 years. Isn't is possible--perhaps not likely, but possible--that the spearhead went unused for decades after being produced?

Yay, Humans

[BlueMikey (1112869)]

Nothing proves that man is who rules the Earth like taking animals that are 130 years old, killing them, and then hacking them up with a chainsaw. Keep showin' them animals who's boss, oh brave hunters.

YOU'RE NEXT, TURTLES

Re:Yay, Humans

[ultramk (470198)]

Amazingly enough, there are other sources of meat in these modern times. Even in Alaska.

Oh, they're doing it for cultural reasons? Then let them use hand-thrown harpoons to kill it and whale-bone knives to carve it up. You can't have it both ways. I suspect that vast factory ships with explosive harpoon heads and gas-powered chainsaws are not culturally consistent.

I'm sure that killing Mountain Gorillas is culturally consistent for some African tribes, yet no one complains when they are protected.

I agree that maintaining cultural identity is important, but where do we draw the line? To my mind, the law is there to be followed, for everyone. Double standards are racist and backwards. If killing whales is acceptable to our society, then make it legal. If it is unacceptable, make it illegal. The law should not be different because of who your parents were, or what the color of your skin is.

M-

Re:Yay, Humans

[ultramk (470198)]

Right, except that there are hundreds of millions of cattle, and they only live for a few years at most, whereas bowhead whales number slightly over 8000 at best estimate, and may live over 200 years, making them the most long-lived mammals on the planet.

It isn't because they are cute, it is because they are rare, unique and irreplaceable. When they are gone, they are gone for good.

M-

Back from the 23rd Century

[totallygeek (263191)]

Whales live indefinitely, and their master race 'swims' the universe in large cylinders. Everyone has known this since the historical documents were released in 1986.

oblig

[Digitus1337 (671442)]

When reached for additional comment the scientists replied "Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em. I'm a whale biologist."

Are you kidding?!

[iknownuttin (1099999)]

"He couldn't have been that bothered if he lived for another 100 years."

Every time it would rain, the poor whale can be heard for miles singing the complaining song of old whales. Roughly translated from whale song as he was talking to younger whales, "Aye! My neck is killing me! Years ago, some son of a bitch human shot me right in me neck! Yarrr. It 'urts every time a storm is ah brew'n. Yarrr. Take note young'ns"

This could be very bad

[N3WBI3 (595976)]

If whales are livening longer than we thought and yet their numbers are still lower than they should be Who knows what the reproductive life of a whale is and it could mean many of the living adults dont breed anymore

By "caught", you mean "killed", right?

[possible (123857)]

From the summary: A bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast...

The whale wasn't "caught", it was killed. It's really disappointing to think that people still killing rare, intelligent mammals that can live to over 150 years old.

And before people start telling me that whale hunting is part of Inuit tradition, I'd like to point out that TFA mentions that this whale was killed with an mechanically-launched explosive projectile. That's about as traditional as a Lakota shooting a buffalo with an AK-47.

Yeah but

[Colin Smith (2679)]

How did it taste?

 

Re:Yeah but

[Avatar8 (748465)]

A little saltier than bald eagle, but not as tender as panda. :-P

Wow!

[posterlogo (943853)]

People have been assholes for a long time!

Longevity of whales

[mollog (841386)]

My very first thought when I read the headline was, 'If whales live so long, we should not be hunting them. They probably have a very finite rate of reproduction, their numbers are low and getting lower, and we're even killing the old ones.' I wish we would stop killing whales.

Ships injure and kill whales, whalers kill whales, sonar from U.S. Navy submarines kill whales and ruin their hearing. What we're doing is unforgivable.

Is anybody else alarmed about the news that we just killed an old whale?

Re:Longevity of whales

[morari (1080535)]

I'm usually alarmed by what humans do, though never surprised.

Re:Longevity of whales

[truthsearch (249536)]

It was killed by a small group of indigenous people who still use whales as a major food source.

I had part of a pig for breakfast and turkey for lunch, so I'd be a hypocrite if I complained much.

Re:Longevity of whales

[Nerdfest (867930)]

Not really, neither of those species is currently endangered. You can feel bad about the way they're treated and 'factory farmed' if you like though.

Re:Longevity of whales

[mrchaotica (681592)]

"We" (as in "people subject to U.S. law") have stopped killing them. If you RTFA, you'll find that the people who killed the whale were Eskimos, who have permission to do it because it's their tradition.

If you want to bitch at the Eskimos for doing it, be my guest -- but you'll probably get bitched at in return about how "their traditions are as endangered as the whales" or some such thing.

Re:Wow, what it must have felt like...

[truthsearch (249536)]

It probably felt just fine. I imagine being cut up by chainsaw recently felt much worse.

Re:Am I the only one disgusted by this?

[plunge (27239)]

I dunno, but if your whole argument for whale killing is that its preserving an ancient tradition, don't you think that arguments starts to look a little silly when you go out and do it with machine guns and sonar.

Re:Yayhoos?

[owlnation (858981)]

Now why would you call native people yayhoos? This is not a story of some hayseeds out for a good time. This whale was harvested by a group of people that are monitored by the IWC and practice whaling as part of their indigenous culture.

No. You're wrong, sorry. Or to be fair, perhaps just naive...

Whaling is supposed to permitted by the IWC for traditional hunts by certain indigenous peoples. Perhaps you'd like to tell us what part of using a sophisticated modern projectile weapon is traditional?

The tragedy and travesty is that most of these so-called "traditional" hunts are bogus. Rather than using traditional means and rituals these "natives" are using modern weapons, sonar and a variety of other means to find and kill whales. The catch being often turned over to the Japanese for profit.

There is as much "tradition" in this type of whaling as there is "science" in Japanese scientific whaling. It's all a smokescreen for profit.

So, I agree with the original poster, although "yayhoos" is a very generous word.

Re:Indigenous culture. Time to change?

[chrismcdirty (677039)]

I'm willing to bet that their lives have less of a negative global impact than your life.

Re:Indigenous culture. Time to change?

[BrianH (13460)]

How are they to change? The regions these people live in are too cold to support enough land based agriculture to survive, and shippping food up from warmer climates is terribly expensive. Without a local export economy, the people there can't AFFORD food grown elsewhere. No company is going to relocate its manufacturing base north of the Arctic Circle, so these people either have to exist as hunters, or exist as welfare recipients. They choose to maintain some dignity and keep their native culture operating.

The Intuit whale take is below the species replacement rate, so they aren't putting the bowheads survival in any danger.

Re:Indigenous culture. Time to change?

[einhverfr (238914)]

I am sorry, but I cannot agree.

Although the general argument goes along the lines that allowing indigenous people to hunt whales makes it harder to put pressure on Asians, I think that this argument is deeply flawed. We have stopped hunting whales with modern weapons because we realize the harm we are doing to the environment. Unless the Japanese and others come to a similar realization, we will not be able to stop them.

One important (even priceless) posession is that of cultural heritage and living tradition. I recognize that many in the world today, having lost a sense of heritage and tradition, fail to appreciate its value, but telling native peoples which traditions they can or cannot do (or even should or should not do) is simple imperialism and tramples on this priceless posession.

The danger of extinction for a species due to traditional practices only comes from two sources. If we recognize this, we can allow people to continue with their heritage and still avoid damage to the environment.

The first is due to technological advancement. This is what lead to the extinction of the Aurochs in Europe (the development of firearms used in hunting wiped out this animal very quickly. Arguably, the rise in higher technology weaponry nearly caused the extinction of many species of whales as well.

The second is due to explosion of demand. This is usually linked to either population increase or more likely more efficient methods of hunting (see the previous paragraph).

Before people suggest that it is still immoral to hunt whales just because they are whales (and absent from sustainability issues), let me say one thing. Every time you eat the standard chicken you get at the supermarket, every time you eat a hamburger, and every time you eat a boiled egg, unless you go out of your way to do otherwise, you are contributing to a system which imprisons animals in ways which are far more unethical.

Personally, I try my best to eat only free range or organically raised meat wherever I can. I go to the length of buying a side of beef once a year from a farmer who raises the cattle locally and humanely. But to suggest that it is unethical for Native Americans to hunt whales while contributing to this gross mistreatment of livestock is not only imperialist, it is also hypocritical.