Some whale species may live longer than we thought

Some whale species may live twice as long as we thought — if we let them.

Cetaceans are the longest-living mammals: One bowhead whale reached 211 years. Establishing their ages is difficult, however, relying on rare tissue samples or abstruse methods such as counting layers of earwax, like tree rings. Also, the mechanized slaughter of whales in the 20th century means there are few of the oldest alive.

But new research used photo catalogues and statistical methods like those used in human actuarial tables, Science reported, which suggested that southern right whales, thought to live to 70-ish, could regularly reach 130. But their northern cousins have a harder time, with few reaching 50 because so many get tangled in fishing nets.