The goose-beaked whale, known for reaching record-breaking depths in the ocean, may hold secrets that could transform human medicine. According to National Geographic, researchers are studying how these elusive whales survive extreme oxygen deprivation during dives that last for hours—adaptations that could inspire new therapies for conditions like stroke, cancer, and even COVID-19. Unlike humans, […]
Tag: bowhead whales
Climate change and shrinking Arctic sea ice threaten bowhead whales
Bowhead whales are endemic to the icy waters of the Arctic and prefer living in shallow waters near sea ice, filtering krill and tiny crustaceans called copepods for food. However, the Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, and a recent study estimates that if this continues, then by 2100 the whales […]
With Sea Ice Melting, Killer Whales Are Moving Into the Arctic
In the winter of 2020, Inuit hunters in Canada’s Central Arctic came across the frozen carcasses of 11 beached bowhead whales, enormous marine mammals that have made a slow but steady comeback since they were driven to the brink of extinction by late 19th and early 20th century whalers. Unsure of what killed the whales, […]
‘Extraordinary longevity’: great whales can live a lot longer than we thought – if we leave them alone
In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s epic novel of 1851, the author asks if whales would survive the remorseless human hunt. Yes, he says, as he foresees a future flooded world in which the whale would outlive us and “spout his frothed defiance to the skies”. Moby Dick was a grizzled old sperm whale that had miraculously […]
Right Whales Can Live 130 Years or Longer, Research Finds
Scientists have estimated that bowhead whales — the longest-living whale species — can live more than 200 years. It was once thought that the bowhead’s cousin, the right whale, had an average lifespan of about 70 to 80 years, but new research has revised that estimate to more than 130 years — nearly twice as […]
One in 10 southern right whales alive in 1893 could have still been swimming today, study finds
In 1893, the World’s Fair was getting under way in Chicago, the world’s first number plates appeared on cars in Paris, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination would later spark the first world war, spent time hunting kangaroos and emus in the NSW town of Narromine. Also, according to researchers, up to 10% of southern […]