Barents Sea, Svalbard, Norway
Meanwhile, during a field survey in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea with the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR), we met an old acquaintance -the Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus).
The bowhead whale is the only full-time Arctic resident among the baleen whales and one of the longest-lived mammals on Earth. They grow slowly and are thought to live for more than 200 years.
But how do we know they can live to such remarkable ages?
Sometimes, these whales carry clues from their own past. Old harpoons tips, manufactured by whalers more than a century ago, have been found embedded in Bowhead whales. Such discoveries provide compelling evidence of their extraordinary longevity.
A 19th-century harpoon fragment recovered from a whale in modern times is quite literally a piece of its history, and evidence that it survived an encounter with whalers more than a century ago.
These up to 18 meter long baleen whales were one of the first Arctic whale species to be harvested intensively by commercial whalers. Because they are slow swimmers and so rich in blubber that they float when killed, they were an attractive target for early whalers operating from small, man-powered boats launched from sailing ships.
By the time commercial whaling of bowheads effectively ended, the species had been driven close to extinction across much of its range.
Today, bowhead whales still inhabit a rapidly changing Arctic. Climate change and changes in food availability may affect their future, while other potential threats include vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, ocean noise, pollution and offshore oil and gas development.
Encountering one in these Arctic waters is always a privilege, a reminder that some of the ocean’s oldest inhabitants are still here, moving quietly through a changing world.
