Balaena mysticetus

Arctic right whale

Species

1. PhylumChordata
2. ClassMammalia
3. OrderCetartiodactyla
4. FamilyBalaenidae

Habitatmarine

Observations211

Maximum longevity: 211 years (wild) Observations: These animals exhibit slow growth and high survival. Growth may be faster in females than in males, and it slows down markedly at around 40-50 years of age. Sexual maturity is probably reached at age 20-25. Using an indirect method for age estimation based on aspartic acid racemization, the bowhead whale has been recorded as the longest-lived mammal thanks to one male estimated to be 211 years-old. The same study found three other male specimens estimated to be over 100 years of age. Very few obvious signs of pathology were found in old bowheads. The 211 year-old specimen was reported to appear old with though meat and blubber. One of the centenarian males exhibited a spondylitic lesion on the vertebra. Reproductive senescence has not been reported, though detailed studies are lacking (George et al. 1999).

via IUCN

• Evidence for improved DNA repair in the long-lived bowhead whale.Nature · 2025Firsanov D, Zacher M, Tian X et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09694-5
• DNA repair and anti-cancer mechanisms in the long-lived bowhead whale.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Firsanov D, Zacher M, Tian X et al.DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.07.539748
• Distinct longevity mechanisms across and within species and their association with aging.Cell · 2023Tyshkovskiy A, Ma S, Shindyapina AV et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.002
• Bowhead and beluga whale acoustic detections in the western Beaufort Sea 2008-2018.PloS one · 2021Stafford KM, Citta JJ, Okkonen SR et al.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253929
• Bowhead whale localization using time-difference-of-arrival data from asynchronous recorders.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2017Warner GA, Dosso SE, Hannay DEDOI: 10.1121/1.4978438
• Whale tear glands in the bowhead and the beluga whales: Source and function.Journal of morphology · 2020Rehorek SJ, Stimmelmayr R, George JC et al.DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21099
• Author Correction: Evidence for improved DNA repair in the long-lived bowhead whale.Nature · 2025Firsanov D, Zacher M, Tian X et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09952-6
• Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait.Movement ecology · 2023Szesciorka AR, Stafford KMDOI: 10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5

via PubMed