5 Oldest Living Things Killed by Humans

1. 130-year-old whale

In May 2007, indigenous hunters killed a bowhead whale off the Alaskan coast. Embedded into the shoulder bone of the whale was an exploding harpoon that they were able to date to being used in 1890, meaning the whale survived the attack and lived a further 117 years with the harpoon under its skin. This allowed scientists to guess the age at around 130.

2. 405-year-old shellfish

In 2007 it was reported that one large Quahog was pulled from a depth of 80 meters and killed so researchers could count its rings. They were stunned when they determined the shellfish was 405-years-old, making it the oldest non-colonial animal ever discovered.

In 1964, geographer Donald R. Currey got permission from officials to take tree ring samples in Nevada’s Great Basin National Park. One of the species that grow in this high altitude area is the Bristlecone pine, which is famed for its age. Currey hoped that he could use its ring data to track glacier movements. For some reason, he decided not to use the tree borer, and just cut down the tree instead. When he got back to lab it was learned that he had killed the oldest tree ever discovered, estimated to be about 4,900 years old. Nicknamed Prometheus, the tree held the record until 2012 when an older tree was found – another bristlecone, which was 5,065 years old.

On February 14, 2011, Kenny Williams landed a monster-sized Alligator gar near his home in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The dinosaur fish was so big he had to use nets to drag it onto his boat. Once it was weighed it smashed earlier records at 8.5 feet long and weighing in at 327 pounds. Such a large Alligator gar was determined to be about 94-years-old.

5. 100-year-old (at least) lobster

The biggest lobster ever (that we know of) was caught off Nova Scotia, Canada in 1977. It weighed in at 44 pounds, 6 ounces and was believed to be around a 100-years-old. The ancient lobster giant was sold to a restaurant, where it ended up on the menu.