Some whales may live nearly twice as long as believed—if we let them

From our friends at science.org:

Among mammals, whales are the longevity champs. Members of several species have lived past age 100, and one bowhead whale reached its 211th birthday. But estimates of whale longevity often require scarce tissue samples and can rely on techniques that are difficult to interpret.

A study published today in Science Advances may have found a better way. By combining decades long photo records with the same statistical approach companies use to set life insurance rates, scientists have deduced that at least one species of whale survives almost twice as long as researchers expected. Other whales may beat longevity predictions, too, the work suggests.

“What the authors have done here is quite impressive,” says marine mammal biologist C. Scott Baker of Oregon State University, who wasn’t connected to the study. “They make a good case for the plausibility of their results.”

For the full story, visit science.org here: