A bowhead whale mother and calf in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Bowhead whales were heavily affected by commercial whaling. (Caila Kucheravy), CC BY-NC
The Conversation: Commercial whaling and climate change are inhibiting evolutionary change in Arctic whales
As written in The Conversation by Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba
Bowhead whales are the longest-lived mammals on Earth with some able to live hundreds of years. What’s more, Inuit hunters have observed these whales breaking ice over half a metre thick – ice strong enough to support a fully-loaded semi truck.
The living ranges of the narwhal whales overlap with those of the bowheads in the Arctic. Narwhals were central to northern European mythology about the legendary unicorn due to their distinctive tusk.
However, despite their iconic status in the eyes of many, both of these magnificent creatures have faced centuries of violent persecution by human commercial whalers. Bowhead whales, in particular, were prized for their blubber, oil, bones and filter feeding system from 1540 until the 20th century — a period lasting nearly 400 years.
Read the full article here.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.