A fragment of a bomb lance manufactured around 1880 was found embedded in a bowhead whale caught off Alaska a month ago, showing the animal must have survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago. This recent information suggests that bowhead whales have life spans that extend past one hundred years.

The fragment was discovered in the whale after it was killed in May by Alaska's Inupiat people, the animal was probably a calf when it was originally struck. While commercial whaling is now banned by international agreement, natives from Alaska, the Chukotka region of eastern Russia and Greenland are permitted to hunt a fixed number of whales for traditional, non-commercial consumption with the meat being distributed to all residents of the hunters' villages.

Embedded deep under the whale’s blubber was a 3 inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated at 115 to 130 years old. No other finding has been this precise as calculating a whale's age can be difficult. The bomb lance fragment was probably manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling centre at that time. The device would have exploded and injured the whale at the time it was used.

The 50 foot male whale died when it was shot with a similar projectile last month. Whaling has always been a prominent source of food for Alaskans and is monitored by the International Whaling Commission.