Weapon Found in Whale Dated From the 1800s 661
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.' "
Re:caught? (Score:3, Informative)
"The 49-foot male whale died when it was shot with a similar projectile last month, and the older device was found buried beneath its blubber as hunters carved it with a chain saw for harvesting."
In other words, the whale fell victim to a modern version of the same weapon it survived in the 1800s.
Re:Longevity of whales (Score:5, Informative)
"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.
Aging Whales: Evidence of Age (Score:4, Informative)
Aging Whales: Evidence of Age
Marine researchers now believe that the Arctic Bowhead whale may live 180 years or longer making it the longest lived mammal on earth. Back in the early 1990's, biologists weren't sure whether to trust these estimates, that is, until they stumbled on an important clue. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont. Jeffery Bada is a Professor of Marine Chemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, California.
"During the annual harvest by the local Inuit hunters, the biologists that were observing this found that there were stone harpoons imbedded in some of these whales. And these stone harpoons were no longer used by the local hunters after about 1870. Stone harpoons in a whale that was killed in the 90's implies that it is over a hundred years old, and this provided independent confirmation that we indeed were onto something really interesting."
What proved equally as interesting to Jeffrey Bada and the other researchers, was the fact that the oldest whales taken during the harvest were all males.
"I don't think it necessarily implies that the males of the species live longer than the females. It has more to do with their behavior. These hundred year plus old whales were survivors of the great slaughter of whales that took place in the late nineteenth century. And males in this species of Bowheads, tend to be solitary animals, where as the females group together in these big pods of whales, and as a result, they were probably more easily hunted. It may be that the solitary males survived, whereas the females were more heavily exploited."
We'll hear more about the long-lived Bowhead whales in a future programs. Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science for 200 years, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation.
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[ above from: http://pulseplanet.com/archive/Feb02/2602.html [pulseplanet.com] ]
Did anyone ead the article? (Score:3, Informative)
Ok, maybe that's a little harsh, but I mean really, most of the comments make it clear that no one read the article. I feel like I'm in high school English class where the teacher would give a pop essay on the short story we were supposed to read the night before.
What's worse is that the poster did not even read the CNN article. Or perhaps didn't pay attention. The post says "AP and CNN are carrying a story that has forced scientists to re-evaluate the longevity of mammals". This is completely false. The linked-to CNN article says "It's rare to find [a whale] that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old."
Finally, the AP carried this story on Tuesday and CNN picked it up on Wednesday. Old news.
I'm kvetching (sp).
Re:Indigenous culture. Time to change? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Yay, Humans (Score:3, Informative)
The people living in towns also often get their food from relatives living out in the villages. They send back stuff that they can buy at the store in return. It's a fair trade, since the town people are too busy working their jobs to go out and put up food.
I grew up in Anchorage, but my father worked in construction all around the state doing mostly school repair. I traveled with him to some really remote places like Taititlek, St. Paul & St. George, Gambell & Savoonga, Point Lay, etc. I got to see what life is like in these places up close and in person. Also a number of my friends growing up were Eskimos and Indians from out in the Bush. Since I'm Tlingit, we'd go back to Southeast Alaska to visit family and go out fishing and hunting with relatives. I've never been anywhere off the road system where people didn't survive on subsistence foods to some extent, if not more than half of their diets. What you're talking about is complete nonsense.
And further evidence you have no idea what you're talking about: whales are hunted in small open boats. There are no such things as "factory killing ships". You've clearly never seen a whale hunt, and I'd be surprised if any Eskimos would invite your privileged white lazy fat ass along. I'd bet you've never gone subsistence hunting or fishing either. I certainly wouldn't invite you out or even share any of my traditional foods with you.
Come back when you've actually seen subsistence hunting and fishing, and have actually been in communities where it is the only option for the majority of the diet. And please remember to leave your bigoted opinions back in the Lower 48 where they belong.
Oh, for reference, check the State of Alaska Department of Fish & Game web page on subsistence before pulling any more bullshit out of your ass. http://www.subsistence.adfg.state.ak.us/ [state.ak.us]
Their FAQ is more enlightening than any of your uninformed and opinionated nonsense: http://www.subsistence.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/a
Re:Longevity of whales (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Longevity of whales (Score:4, Informative)
But I thought we were on animal farms, in which case maintaining [toledoblade.com] wastewater [desmoinesregister.com] systems [nocafos.org] appears to cost too much as well.
Nevermind that factory farming leads us to do insane things: Lettuce from national fast food chain Taco Bell makes people ill all over the country. A crazy stroke of coincidence? No, they buy the most of their lettuce from one single farm in California and ship it all across America. And this isn't some secret moon lettuce from the future that chops itself, it is the same stuff that virtually anyone with a patch of dirt big enough to stand on can grow by just throwing seeds out, then kicking back and doing mostly nothing.
Taken as a whole, the practice is probably not in everyone's best interest.