Immortals of the Arctic

snowcelt · #1 (**permalink**) 31-May-2005, 09:43 PM

I saw an excellent show by the Canadian Geographic on Bow Head whales called, I think, Immortals of the Arctic.

For many years the Inuit of Canada and the North Slope Inuit of Alaska have said that the Bow Head whales live a long time.

Inuit have for years hunted these large beasts(can weigh up to 50 tons). Every once and a while they have pulled the heads of harpoons that predate modern times. The heads are made of bone.

To make a long story short, with modern DNA science they have found proof that these whales can live over 200 years!

Neat eh? Imagine a beast that was alive in the late 1700s, still swimming about.

skwirlinator · #2 (**permalink**) 31-May-2005, 09:53 PM

Just more proof of how little we really do know about our oceans. I'm sure they are not the oldest either.

Swift · #3 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 12:12 AM

very 8)

captain swoop · #4 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 10:00 AM

Recently there was a story on the BBC about a Blue Whale that was found to have and 19th Century Hand Harpoon inside it. I will try to look it up.

TriangleMan · #5 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 11:54 AM

I recall that story. It was a bowhead whale, not a blue.

#6 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 01:08 PM

Didn't one of the Giant Tortoises that Darwin himself brought back from the Galapagos die in London Zoo only last-year??. I found that trully amazing. If only tortoises could speak??

captain swoop · #7 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 01:41 PM

That was the one

TriangleMan · #8 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 04:16 PM

IIRC there was a case of a Galapogos Tortoise living to 177. I did a quick google and a number of sites report it but I can't find a source that specifies which tortoise it was and how scientists knew its age.

The Bermuda Zoo has a Galapogos Tortoise that is around 90, and has been at the Zoo since 1932. He is fond of females half his age, like most 90-year-olds. :wink:

Rc2000 · #9 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 05:10 PM

I've wondered sometimes if the size of an animal has something to do with how long it lives. Or maybe a combination of size and lifestyle -- I mean if it's very active or slow.
Anyone ever read or hear about something like this?

Rc

TriangleMan · #10 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 06:27 PM

While size and pace of lifestyle are generally factors for species longevity I don't think it's necessary. Some parrots can live 80+ years and are neither big, nor slow, compared to other birds and animals. Sloths are pretty big, really slow, but have lifespans of 30-40 years.

I'm sure if someone mapped out size or pace vs. longevity I'm sure there would be a decent correlation but that's about it.

01101001 · #11 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rc2000

I've wondered sometimes if the size of an animal has something to do with how long it lives. Or maybe a combination of size and lifestyle -- I mean if it's very active or slow.
Anyone ever read or hear about something like this?

Science News, Feb 12, 2005, Vol 167, No 7 "Life on the Scales"

Quote:

Simple mathematical relationships underpin much of biology and ecology

Quote:

A mouse lives just a few years, while an elephant can make it to age 70. In a sense, however, both animals fit in the same amount of life experience. In its brief life, a mouse squeezes in, on average, as many heartbeats and breaths as an elephant does. Compared with those of an elephant, many aspects of a mouse's life—such as the rate at which its cells burn energy, the speed at which its muscles twitch, its gestation time, and the age at which it reaches maturity—are sped up by the same factor as its life span is. It's as if in designing a mouse, someone had simply pressed the fast-forward button on an elephant's life.

Google "life quarter-power law".

TriangleMan · #12 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 09:49 PM

The quarter-power law is interesting. Science news does mention some criticisms of such theories:

Quote:

While the metabolic-scaling theory has roused much enthusiasm, it has its limitations. Researchers agree, for instance, that while the theory produces good predictions when viewed on a scale from microbes to whales, the theory is rife with exceptions when it's applied to animals that are relatively close in temperature and size. For example, large animals generally have longer life spans than small animals, but small dogs live longer than large ones.

Still it appears that there could be more to it than a simple correlation, as I proposed. I wonder how/if parrots and sloths fit the predictions?

01101001 · #13 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 10:28 PM

I wish they had picked a more compelling counter-example than dogs, whose DNA has been artificially messed with. Humans, I suppose, outlive the larger gorillas. I don't wonder why. A properly cared for bonsai tree will outlive its same-DNA clone in the wild, because someone picks off its invading insects, keeps it out of harsh storms, and provides precise watering and nutrition.

Nonetheless, there probably are good counterexamples. DNA is always trying to beat the system. The sysem-beaters, and also the big losers, need looking at for what they can teach.

mike alexander · #14 (**permalink**) 01-June-2005, 10:29 PM

Since life is complicated, I doubt that just a simple power law would suffice, but it still suggests trends.

I wonder what would happen if you figured in neotenic tendencies. humans live much longer than they 'should' based just on body size, but we spend a long time growing up.

eburacum45 · #15 (**permalink**) 02-June-2005, 09:19 AM

The oldest animal I ever encountered was Timothy, at Powderham Castle in Devon;
http://www.answers.com/topic/timothy-tortoise

'he' was at least 160 years old, and it says there 'he' died in 2004, which I didn't know.

publiusr · #16 (**permalink**) 08-June-2005, 08:42 PM

I'd like to know what made the sounds the SOSUS array picked up (Bloop and Julia).

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