A century-old harpoon discovered in a sea giant: which creature carried it for a hundred years? (photos)

In 2007, Inuit whalers in Alaska made a remarkable discovery within the carcass of a whale — they found fragments of weaponry embedded in the flesh of the sea giant. Even more intriguing was the fact that the remnants of the gear were not modern equipment, as reported by IFLScience.

Researchers traced the harpoon back to the 1900s and estimated that the sea giant was likely around 115 years old. It is well-known that bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) have suffered significantly due to the introduction of large-scale commercial whaling, leading to a drastic decline in their population to fewer than 3,000 individuals.

Fortunately, whaling was halted by 1921, allowing the bowhead whale population to recover somewhat — the number of sea giants increased to between 10,000 and 23,000 individuals. It is worth noting that whaling is still present in the modern world: indigenous peoples are still permitted to hunt for sustenance along the western and northern coasts of Alaska, where bowhead whales have been vital sources of food for thousands of years.

During one such subsistence hunt, whalers discovered remnants of a century-old harpoon in the body of a caught bowhead whale. While processing the carcass, a biologist noticed fragments of the gear and subsequently sent them to historian John Boxtos at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Research revealed that the remnants of the harpoon were a type of spear that was popular in New Bedford during the 1800s, when it was the whaling capital. The patented device allowed Boxtos and his colleagues to narrow its use to the period between 1885 and 1895, which helped establish the whale's age at about 115 years.

This new finding serves as further evidence that bowhead whales are not only among the largest animals in the ocean but also possess an exceptional lifespan.

Researchers point out that there are not many ways to determine the age of a whale, but one method involves the eyes of the sea giants. Their eye lenses contain aspartate, which can exist in both left- and right-handed forms. This composition changes over time, providing scientists with clues about the animal's age.

Researchers note that bowhead whale calves start their lives with 100% left-handed aspartate in their eyes, but over time, this ratio tends to balance out to 50:50 of left and right molecules. Now, scientists can study the ratio of these molecules, which aids in determining the age of the animal.