Some animals live much longer than humans, and some plants live for thousands of years - until humans kill them. Here are ten of the oldest centenarians killed by humans.
10. 130-year-old whale In May 2007, off the coast of Alaska, local hunters killed a whale. Typically, when whales are gutted, it is not unusual to find old harpoon heads and other weapons left over from past hunters' efforts. However, this time a shard of such a harpoon was found in the humerus of a whale, which have not been used since 1890, that is, the whale survived the attack and for another 117 years lived with a harpoon shard under its skin.
In the 19th century, whalers only hunted large adult whales, so the whale was probably already at least in its teens. This allows scientists to assume that the whale is at least 130 years old. This is probably not the oldest of the whales, as scientists believe whales can live up to 200 years in the wild.
9.200-year-old seabass On June 21, 2013, Seattle native Henry Liebman fished his favorite fish in the ocean off the coast of Alaska: northern seabass. This fish lives at depths from 25 to 1200 meters, eating mollusks that it encounters. Liebman, like an experienced fisherman, lowered his baited hook to a depth of about 265 meters, and at that moment a fish pecked at him.
When Liebman, after a hard struggle, pulled the fish to the surface, he was shocked by its size. The fish exceeded the record caught off the coast of Alaska, which weighed about 16 kilograms. When researchers calculated the age of the perch using the annular growths near the ear bone, it turned out that it was already about 200 years old.
8.400-year-old sharksSharks have a bad reputation. Near Australia, which is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world in terms of shark attacks, there are an average of 12 shark attacks per person per year. However, this is nothing compared to the fact that people kill about 100 million sharks around the world every year, often just for their fins. Such a fierce hunt bears fruit. In Australia, studies have shown that shark attacks are becoming less common, and this is probably due to a decrease in their total number.
One of the least studied sharks is the Greenland Giant Arctic Shark. It is one of the slowest sharks to live in the icy waters off the coast of Greenland. Due to the fact that they do not have hard bones, it was previously difficult for scientists to determine the age of these sharks. However, a method for determining age has recently been discovered: examination of the lens of the eye. Scientists were shocked when among the sharks caught by the fishermen were caught specimens about 400 years old. It is possible that older specimens live among the uncaught sharks off the coast of Greenland. Before World War II, larger, and therefore older specimens were caught, while at that time there was an active hunt for Greenland sharks for the fat of their liver, which was used for technical purposes. After the appearance of synthetic oils, the need for such fat disappeared,the hunt for Greenland sharks declined sharply.
7. 405-year-old mollusk In the icy depths of the North Atlantic, there are inhabitants such as the vener molluscs. These molluscs are known for their long life, which is determined by counting the annual rings on their shells. Climatologists use these rings to study historical temperature levels over the years.
In 2007, it was reported that one large clam was removed from a depth of 80 meters, after which the researchers calculated its annual rings. To everyone's surprise, it turned out that the clam was 405 years old, making it one of the oldest animals ever caught.
6. Tree 4900 years old, which was cut down by a lazy scientist The age of trees is determined in the same way as the age of mollusks - by the annual rings. Scientists-climatologists can track historical temperatures from the width of these rings, but for this the tree must be cut down. A more gentle method is to cut holes in the barrel and remove a long, thin block, which is then examined in the laboratory. This method keeps the tree alive.
In 1964, geographer Donald R. Currie was granted permission to sample tree rings from Nevada's Great Basin National Park. One of the types of trees that grow in this area are bristlecone pines, they are famous for their long life. Curri hoped that researching this pine tree would help him track the movements of glaciers. For some reason, he decided not to suffer for a long time and just cut down the necessary tree. When he returned to the laboratory, it was determined that he had destroyed the oldest tree ever discovered, its age was about 4900 years. The tree named "Prometheus" held the record until 2012, when an even more ancient tree was found - also a bristlecone pine, which turned 5065 years old.
5.100 year old elephantIn the 1950s, the passionate hunter Spaniard J. J. Fenikovi traveled through the Portuguese colony in Angola, where he came across the tracks of a large elephant near a watering hole. They were very huge - each 0.9 meters in diameter. Fenikovi did not have time to immediately set off in pursuit of the elephant, but the next year he returned to this place. The habit of a giant elephant to come to the watering hole in the same place caused his death. It took 16 large-caliber bullets fired from a Rigby rifle to kill the four-meter giant, which weighed about 8 tons and was about 100 years old.
To preserve the memory of such a magnificent specimen, Fenikovi hired locals to skin the 2-tonne elephant. Then she was sent to America, made a stuffed animal of her and displayed it in the foyer of the Smithsonian Institution, where it still stands. For decades this elephant was considered the largest of all killed, but in November 1974, a car dealer from Nebraska shot and killed an even larger elephant. The growth of the new record holder was 15 centimeters more. The carcass of this slain giant was left abandoned where he was killed, only his ears and tusks survived.
4.94-year-old ancient fish weighing 148 kilogramsThe Mississippi carapace is an ancient breed of fish, whose bones are found along with those of dinosaurs that became extinct almost 100 million years ago. The carapace lives in the Mississippi River and in the areas where the river flows into the ocean, since it can live in both salt and fresh water, and also has organs that allow it to breathe atmospheric air. Due to these properties, the historical habitats of this fish extended far north, as far as Kansas, and covered the territory of many coastal states.
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On February 14, 2011, Kenny Williams fished a shellfish in a cove near his home in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The fish was so large that it took a net to drag it into the boat. After measurements, it was established that the length of the fish was 2 m 60 cm, and the weight was 148 kilograms. The giant was 94 years old.
3. 100-year-old (minimum) lobster Lobster hunters catch about 200 million lobsters annually in the North Atlantic. Some of them are quite rare, for example, blue lobster. One of the unusual things about lobsters is their lifespan. A study was recently published that suggested that lobsters could live forever. In theory, their DNA is resistant to aging, but lobsters should shed or shed their shells periodically.
As lobsters get older, molting becomes more and more time consuming for them, about 15% of lobsters die from stress during molting. The more shell a lobster has to get rid of, the more chances it will die when molting. The largest known lobster was caught in 1977 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. He weighed 20 kg 120 g, it is believed that he was about 100 years old. This ancient giant was sold to a restaurant where it entered the menu.
2. Giant turtles, living for hundreds of years, are almost destroyedThe traditional habitats of giant turtles are tropical islands scattered around the world. These sluggish animals grow up to one meter in length and can weigh tens of kilograms. They also live incredibly long lives. The Aldabra turtles from the Seychelles were made famous by the British General Robert Clive of the East India Company. Clive was addicted to opium and committed suicide in 1774. At some point, his turtles were donated to a zoo in Kolkata, India. One of the turtles spent 130 years at the zoo before dying on March 22, 2006. This ancient turtle, which was nicknamed Advaita (translated from Bengali - "the only one"), was old even when it got to Clive, scientists believe that in total she lived about 250 years.
Most likely, if not for man, all the relatives of Advaita would have lived as long. Most of the giant tortoise species were on the verge of extinction when the tropical islands came under the scrutiny of sailors. Turtles have the ability to live long without food or water, and this has killed them. They have become an ideal food reserve for sea travel. Travelers and traders could easily land on the island and catch half a dozen giant turtles, each weighing several tens of kilograms. Then the turtles were brought on board alive and placed in the holds, sometimes even in stacks on top of each other. The turtles stayed alive for weeks and served as a source of fresh meat. At the same time, animals that were more than one hundred years old were served on the sailors' table.
1. The oldest (3,500 years old) Florida tree that died at the hands of a drug addict This tree appeared around 1500 BC. - before the first English colony of Jamestown was founded in 1607, before the Normans conquered England in 1066, before the Roman Empire was founded and 1000 years before the conquests of Alexander the Great. Over these 3,500 years, it has become high and majestic. Nicknamed "The Senator", the tree grew in Big Three Park in Longwood, Florida. It towered 38 meters, had a trunk diameter of 5.3 meters and was one of the oldest trees in the world.
On January 16, 2012, Longwood native Sarah Barnes came to the park to smoke methadone - as she often did. It was a particularly dark night, so she gathered some twigs to light a small fire. The fire quickly got out of control, but Barnes decided to take out her camera and film how the fire flares up and eventually destroys the Senator. Sarah was a drug addict, and one should not expect intelligent decisions from her. Worried neighbors called the fire department, but firefighters arrived too late to watch the ancient tree die in the fire. At first, investigators were at a loss as to what could have caused a fire, and blamed everything on a lightning strike. This continued until Barnes told her friends about everything and until rumors about it reached the police. Barnes' home was searched and a record of the fire was found. For the destruction of a 3,500-year-old tree, Sarah received a 5-year suspended sentence, her term ended in 2016. After the end of the suspended sentence, Sarah was again prosecuted and sentenced to 20 months in prison.