# There Are Whales Alive Today Who Were Born Before Moby Dick Was Written **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616 "2015-10-24T14:11:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/1 "2015-10-24T14:11:32Z")
[Some of the bowhead whales in the icy waters off of Alaska today are over 200 years old](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written-660944/?no-ist) > [@](#): > > Because the creatures can live longer than 200 years — a fact George discovered when he found an old stone harpoon point in a whale — some of the bowheads alive today may have themselves dodged the barbed steel points of the Yankee whalers. That’s not a lot of evidence, but interesting if true. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/2 "2015-10-24T18:00:04Z")
Very awesome. I guess it is safe to say (if true/confirmed) that whales are the mammals with the longest lifespans? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/3 "2015-10-24T20:20:33Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Very awesome. I guess it is safe to say (if true/confirmed) that whales are the mammals with the longest lifespans? Searching shows this to be the general consensus now. I don’t think any other mammals come close. Other than humans I don’t know if any other mammals exceed 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/4 "2015-10-24T22:32:47Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Very awesome. I guess it is safe to say (if true/confirmed) that whales are the mammals with the longest lifespans? Yea, but it’s just Bowhead Whales. I don’t believe there’s any evidence that other species of whales live nearly that long. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/5 "2015-10-24T23:37:15Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Very awesome. I guess it is safe to say (if true/confirmed) that whales are the mammals with the longest lifespans? Mammals, definitely. But oldest confirmed animal was [Ming the clam](http://sciencenordic.com/new-record-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-animal-507-years-old) (_Arctica islandica_ bivalve mollusc AKA ocean quahog), who died in 2006 at the ripe old age of 507 years. Originally thought to be around ~400 years old, but the article goes into some depth on the dating methods used and says the researchers are pretty confident now about the 507 number. Bowhead whale seems to be second place overall for all types of animals. Below that, there are a bunch of different lists out there of highest-longevity animals that aren’t all in exact agreement, and it’s hard to tell which are the most reliable / well-researched sources. But most of them seem to be populated by fish/eels/reptiles/tortoises. As far as mammals, it’s probably safe to put humans at #2 followed closely by African elephants, which get a 60-70 year average life expectancy under good conditions. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/6 "2015-10-25T02:00:00Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > … > But most of them seem to be populated by fish/eels/reptiles/tortoises. As far as mammals, it’s probably safe to put humans at #2 followed closely by African elephants, which get a 60-70 year average life expectancy under good conditions. I thought many of the larger Whales had a 60-70 year lifespan? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/7 "2015-10-25T03:10:09Z")
Can you imagine living for 500+ years . . . as a _clam?_ Even a clam’s gotta get mighty bored with that. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/8 "2015-10-25T03:22:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Can you imagine living for 500+ years . . . as a _clam?_ > > Even a clam’s gotta get mighty bored with that. 🙂 That’s the first thing I thought of. Thanks for expressing it, as we all get closer to the edge. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/9 "2015-10-25T03:37:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Can you imagine living for 500+ years . . . as a _clam?_ > > Even a clam’s gotta get mighty bored with that. Not if you’re… happy as a clam. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/10 "2015-10-25T05:13:18Z")
Nobody is totally sure how long a Galapagos tortoise can live. I think they have one thats over 200. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/11 "2015-10-25T22:48:12Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Mammals, definitely. But oldest confirmed animal was [Ming the clam](http://sciencenordic.com/new-record-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-animal-507-years-old) (_Arctica islandica_ bivalve mollusc AKA ocean quahog), who died in 2006 at the ripe old age of 507 years. Originally thought to be around ~400 years old, but the article goes into some depth on the dating methods used and says the researchers are pretty confident now about the 507 number. > > Bowhead whale seems to be second place overall for all types of animals. Below that, there are a bunch of different lists out there of highest-longevity animals that aren’t all in exact agreement, and it’s hard to tell which are the most reliable / well-researched sources. But most of them seem to be populated by fish/eels/reptiles/tortoises. As far as mammals, it’s probably safe to put humans at #2 followed closely by African elephants, which get a 60-70 year average life expectancy under good conditions. How about the [Immortal Jellyfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii)? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-whales-alive-today-who-were-born-before-moby-dick-was-written/735616/12 "2015-10-25T23:25:52Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Nobody is totally sure how long a Galapagos tortoise can live. I think they have one thats over 200. Speed, the Galapagos tortoise that lived at the San Diego Zoo, [died (was euthanised) in June](http://www.npr.org/2015/06/22/416538138/150-year-old-galapagos-tortoise-dies-at-san-diego-zoo).