19th-century weapon found in whale...amazing

[one...two...tree 2,762]

BOSTON - A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago. Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3 1/2-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old.

"No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Calculating a whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It's rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old.

The bomb lance fragment, lodged in a bone between the whale's neck and shoulder blade, was likely manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling center at that time, Bockstoce said.

It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890. The small metal cylinder was filled with explosives fitted with a time-delay fuse so it would explode seconds after it was shot into the whale. The bomb lance was meant to kill the whale immediately and prevent it from escaping.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070613/ap_on_...ry_old_whale_17

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

BOSTON - A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month ...

[...]

It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890. The small metal cylinder was filled with explosives fitted with a time-delay fuse so it would explode seconds after it was shot into the whale. The bomb lance was meant to kill the whale immediately and prevent it from escaping.

Well it took us 117 years to kill the fukcer but in the end, we won.

Human 1, Whale 0.

Yay HUman!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

BOSTON - A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month ...

[...]

It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890. The small metal cylinder was filled with explosives fitted with a time-delay fuse so it would explode seconds after it was shot into the whale. The bomb lance was meant to kill the whale immediately and prevent it from escaping.

Well it took us 117 years to kill the fukcer but in the end, we won.

Human 1, Whale 0.

Yay HUman!

I'm wondering what the meat tastes like.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Whale meat is legal in Japan, isn't it?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Whale meat is legal in Japan, isn't it?

There's a worldwide ban but I think some Japanese fishermen have ignored the ban.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Whale meat is legal in Japan, isn't it?

Yes. And Japan is also known for relabeling whalemeat so as to obfuscate the species killed.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

I'm wondering what the meat tastes like.

bite a fat chick

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I'm wondering what the meat tastes like.

Probably like bad sushi? (from someone who eats recently live fish, cooked--but ain't gonna touch raw fish anytime)

[Scott & Lai 12]

I'm wondering what the meat tastes like.

Probably like bad sushi? (from someone who eats recently live fish, cooked--but ain't gonna touch raw fish anytime)

Considering they are mammals, I doubt they taste like fish.

[almaty 19]

i ate some with my eskimo friends once..taste like chicken

[one...two...tree 2,762]

i ate some with my eskimo friends once..taste like chicken

...albeit century old chicken.

[almaty 19]

i ate some with my eskimo friends once..taste like chicken

...albeit century old chicken.

yes, it tasted like popeye's chicken, which is usually a century old