Read how Whale Survived a Harpoon
In 2007, Alaskan Inupiat hunters discovered a remarkable 19th-century bomb lance fragment deeply embedded in the blubber of a harvested Bowhead whale.
This bomb lance, an explosive harpoon used by whalers between 1885 and 1895 and manufactured likely in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was designed to kill whales immediately by exploding inside them.
However, this particular whale survived the strike, living on for over a century with the fragment lodged near its neck and shoulder blade.
The whale was estimated to be at least 115 years old, more than doubling prior assumptions that Bowhead whales lived about 60 to 70 years.
This finding profoundly changed scientific understanding of the species’ longevity and demonstrated the whale’s extraordinary resilience and survival capacity despite a violent injury from over 100 years ago.
The fragment was displayed at the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska, symbolizing the intersection of history, human culture, and natural endurance in Arctic wildlife.
When scientists analyzed the whale, they estimated its age at at least 115 years old, though it could have been much older. This ancient survivor had outlived the hunters, the ships, and the entire whaling era that once threatened its kind.
Bowhead whales are found in the Arctic waters near Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and are known for their incredible resilience. Unlike most whales, they spend their entire lives in icy polar regions, thriving where few others can.
Their thick blubber, sometimes up to 50 cm (20 inches), insulates them from freezing waters, and their massive skulls can break through sea ice over 20 cm thick.
But their most astonishing trait is their longevity. Bowhead whales are now recognized as the longest-living mammals on Earth, capable of surviving over 150 to 200 years.
Their cells seem to resist aging and cancer, a mystery that scientists are still studying to this day.
That whale, with a weapon from another century still buried in its flesh, became a living time capsule proof of endurance against impossible odds.
A reminder that life, even when scarred, can endure far beyond the reach of its enemies.
