Bowhead Whales Exhibit Exceptional Longevity, Evidenced by 19th-Century Harpoon Fragments
Hunters and biologists conducting Alaska Native subsistence harvests have discovered old weapon points embedded in the blubber and bone of bowhead whales. These findings include fragments made of stone, slate, ivory, and metal. The most precise dating comes from bomb lances, with one metal fragment recovered in May 2007 from a 14.9-meter male whale near its right shoulder blade. John Bockstoce of the New Bedford Whaling Museum identified this fragment as part of a bomb lance likely manufactured between 1879 and 1885. A similar fragment found in another bowhead around 1980 was traced to the same period. These discoveries provide physical evidence supporting the species' remarkable longevity, with some whales carrying these artifacts for over a century. This corroborates chemical dating methods, such as aspartic acid racemization in eye lenses, which have estimated bowhead whale lifespans to exceed 200 years, making them the longest-lived mammals known. 
