How Old Can a Whale Live to Be?

In all likelihood, with continued protection against the whalers’ harpoons, the magnificent whales we work so diligently to save will outlive every one of us! New scientific studies corroborate the keen observation of native elders in the farthest northern outpost of Inupiat communities regarding the amazing ages to which bowhead whales can live.

To quote from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, “Ancient Swimmers” article by Paul Rogers, December 20, 2000, “…Scientists in Alaska and at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., have estimated the ages of three bowhead whales killed by Inupiat Eskimos in northern Alaska at between 135 and 172 years old.

“At the time it was killed, a fourth bowhead whale was believed to be a stunning 211 years old, the researchers “concluded. 

“The ages were determined by studying changes in amino acids in the lenses of the whales’ eyes.

 “Yet adding a layer of corroboration, Inupiat hunters in Barrow and other villages along the frozen northern coast of Alaska have found six ancient harpoon points lodged in the thick blubber of freshly killed bowhead whales since 1981. The harpoon points are made of ivory and stone, two materials not used by native Alaskan whalers since the 1880s, when they were introduced to steel harpoons. 

“For decades in Barrow, a remote town of 5,000 people with no access by highway, Inupiat elders have spoken of whales that several generations of hunters had seen and recognized, based on markings.”