Embedded in its body were fragments of a harpoon dating back to the late 1800s, a discovery that led scientists to estimate the animal was around 115 years old. The find offered a rare glimpse into ...

The Arctic does not often give up its secrets quickly. Ice, distance, and long stretches of darkness have a way of preserving stories that would disappear elsewhere.

When it comes to extreme lifespans in the animal kingdom, the bowhead whale stands in a league of its own. Deep in the freezing Arctic waters, this enormous marine mammal is believed to be the longest ...

A body that weighs as much as a small airplane should face steep odds against cancer. You may expect that from a creature packed with billions of cells, each with a chance to slip into danger as years ...

The Iñupiat people of Alaska have long said that bowhead whales live two human lifetimes. That oral knowledge turned out to be conservative. Scientific measurements using multiple methods have ...