The Longest-Living Whale Can Live For Over 200 Years

Many animals have pretty remarkable lifespans, whether it's Creme Puff the cat, or Johnathan the tortoise. In the marine world, Greenland sharks can survive for hundreds of years, but there’s a whale species that isn’t far behind. Time to learn more about the lifespan of the bowhead whale.

The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a mostly Arctic species, with a body that's capable of breaking through thick sea ice. This is a filter-feeding species that strains plankton from the water column through its baleen plates. In fact, it has the largest mouth of any animal and might be as long as 7 meters (22.9 feet). The total length of an adult male bowhead whale is around 20 meters (65 feet). 

By using the stone harpoon tips from the blubber of these whales and by looking at their eye tissue, their lifespan is estimated to be over 200 years. A harpoon tip was found in 2007 by a team of native Alaskan whalers, and it was found that it dated back to 1880, making the whale roughly 130 years old. 

Looking closely at the lens of bowhead whale eyes allowed one biologist to date four whales to be over 100 years old; the oldest was 211. The lenses are formed one layer at a time, with the key being aspartic acid, an amino acid inside the lens. As the lens forms, a process known as racemisation happens. By studying this process and the amounts of the isomers of the amino acids, age estimates can be made. 

"Large whales like the bowhead have few natural predators which allows them to evolve a life history strategy of slow growth and delayed reproduction and also evolve natural mechanisms that suppress age-related diseases and degeneration,” Dr João Pedro de Magalhães told the Guinness World Records. 

Given their slow lifestyles, experts think that females don’t reach sexual maturity until 18–33 years of age and give birth only every three to seven years. For the males, the long lifespan comes with an unexpected consequence. 

While the bowhead whale is a strong candidate for the longest-lived mammal, it's got nothing on the ocean quahog.