19th-Century Weapon Found in Whale

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/jun/12/061201943.html

A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt - more than a century ago.

Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3 1/2-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old.

"No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Calculating a whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It's rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old.

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[leftofthedial]

1. whew!

I'm glad they killed iy before it got any older!

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Why was it killed?

The article doesn't say.

[jpak]

4. I believe it was an Inuit hunt

n/t

[Richardo]

3. Any wreckage from the Pequod?

[Double T]

5. It is an outrage that a creature that has lived for over a century.........

is massacred by man. Nothing is sacred.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Yes, I was disgusted thinking about that.

Also when they catch those really old lobsters and tuna that have survived Mother Nature for decades only to be done in by Man.

Between this and puppy mill and the Zambian white rhino thread I am completely revolted by us as a species. :(

[Double T]

7. Agreed. It breaks my heart to see the extermination of all of these.........

living breathing creatures by our own species. What kind of a human commits these unconscionable acts?

[RC]

8. Not to worry. There aren't all that many left anyway.

:sarcasm:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. I suspect...

the inuit consider both the whale and the whale hunt to be sacred.

[juno jones]

9. The Inuit hunted these whales before we came here and fucked the place up.

The weapon it survived was probably Inuit too. The Inuit and the other first nations knew how to keep the populations in balance. Our governments allow whaling to commercial intrests. I thought we got into this whole ugly oil mess because it replaced whale products (lamp oil, lubricants) and whaling. Why the hell is any nation or commercial interest allowed to whale in this day and age?

The Inuit eat the animals. You think the goverment's bothering to feed them?