This article is reproduced with permission from The Conversation, an online platform dedicated to sharing the latest academic research.

Recent studies have shown that southern right whales can live well beyond 100 years, with some reaching up to 150 years old. This finding, published in the journal Science Advances, challenges the previously accepted maximum age of 70-80 years for these whales.

Similarly, it was believed that North Atlantic right whales had a lifespan of around 70 years. However, our research indicates that the average lifespan for this critically endangered species is now only 22 years, with few surviving beyond 50 years.

Supporting Science Journalism

If you find this article enriching, please consider supporting our distinguished journalism by subscribing. Your subscription aids in continuing to deliver significant stories about the insights and discoveries that shape our modern world.

These two whale species, which were considered a single species just 25 years ago, are expected to have comparable lifespans. The significant reduction in the lifespan of North Atlantic right whales can be attributed to human-related deaths, primarily from fishing gear entanglements and vessel collisions.

The new age estimates were derived using photo identification techniques that track individual female whales over many years. Whales that no longer appear in photos are presumed dead, allowing researchers to create survival curves that estimate the maximum potential lifespan of these creatures.

A quarter-century ago, research involving Indigenous whale hunters in the Arctic found that bowhead whales could live up to or even surpass 200 years. This conclusion was supported by the discovery of ancient harpoon points in the blubber of recently killed whales and by protein analysis from whale eye tissue. Prior to this, the maximum lifespan of bowhead whales was also thought to be around 80 years, and it was believed that humans were the longest-living mammals.

Following this discovery, scientists began to explore what unique factors allowed bowhead whales to live for such extended periods. Our latest research indicates that other whale species closely related to bowheads might also have similarly extensive lifespans.

Why This Research Is Important

Understanding the lifespans of wild animals is crucial for effective conservation efforts. Species with long lifespans typically reproduce slowly and have lengthy intervals between births. Conservation strategies must be tailored to these life history traits to avoid failure, especially in the face of climate change.

Remaining Questions

Many other large whale species, such as blue, fin, sei, humpback, gray, and sperm whales, almost faced extinction due to whaling. It’s assumed these species live around 80 to 90 years, but recent findings about bowhead and right whales suggest they could have much longer lifespans.

How long these species can actually live remains unknown. The removal of older whales by industrial whaling, which ended in the 1960s, has hindered our understanding. Although whale populations are recovering, it will take time for those born post-whaling to reach old age.

It’s plausible that these species, too, might exhibit longer than expected lifespans.

Ongoing Research

Other studies suggest that the loss of older individuals in large animal populations is widespread, reducing their reproductive capacity and survival potential. This loss of elder animals could also mean a loss of accumulated knowledge and cultural practices that aid in survival.

The Path Forward

Our aim is to better understand how whaling has affected the presence of older whales in populations and predict when these numbers might return to pre-whaling levels. Preliminary findings indicate it might take another century for whale populations to fully recover, even for those species whose numbers have rebounded to pre-whaling counts.

In the case of North Atlantic right whales, despite population growth, the measures in place have been inadequate in preventing premature deaths.

The Research Brief provides a concise discussion on intriguing academic work.

This article was initially published on The Conversation. Read the original article here.