19th. Century harpoon fragment found in Bowhead Whale.

[formercia]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_sc/century_old_whale

BOSTON - 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.

The bomb lance fragment, lodged 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, Bockstoce said.

[Bunny]

1. That is just so amazing.

Wow.

[BurtWorm]

10. What Bunny said.

:wow:


:hi:

[Bunny]

11. Hey!

:hi: yourself!

[MrSlayer]

2. Great, they found it after they chainsawed it to pieces.

I'm feeling bad for the whale.

[wicket]

3. Me too

:(

[LeftHander]

4. Wow old whale...good thing we killed it now...

It might of continued to live another 70 years...and make more whales....

[MrSlayer]

9. Yes, that would have been horrible.

Instead we'll replace it by dumping 64 million tons of toxic chemicals into the ocean. A fair trade, no?

[Tyler Durden]

5. Another good reason why whale hunting should be UNIVERSALLY outlawed.

Hey, I'm Scotch, Irish, and German. All of those tribes had traditions of human sacrifice (ESPECIALLY of failed leaders, hint-hint).

Now can I go practice MY historic traditions? No? Why not?

[formercia]

7. Reviving old traditions.

:evilgrin:

[momster]

8. I *Like* It!

According to the Romans...not that you can trust those SOBs...the Druids used to gather their sacrifices in big wicker baskets and then...whoosh! My ancestry may not be Druidish but I'm willing to convert. I can probably find some wicker lawn furniture and there's a big ol' white marble city just down the road jampacked with failed leadership....

[pansypoo53219]

12. i don't think i would mind some human culling.

fucking planet is infested with these supposedly intelligent beast.
loved the news yesterday about the sturgeon trying to kill humans.

bring on the next pandemic!

[Tyler Durden]

6. You know, I DOUBT that traditional Inuit Whalers had explosives or chainsaws.

Tell you what: if they want to practice their barbaric tribal ritual, then I say they have to do it in skin boats, purely traditionally clothed, and if they kill a whale, it's bone and stone knives to cut it up.