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Researchers used advanced radiocarbon dating techniques on whale teeth to uncover details about their diets and lifespans. By analyzing layers in the teeth similar to tree rings, they found evidence of nuclear weapons testing fallout and identified distinctive radioactive signals from Sellafield's nuclear reprocessing facility. This method helped estimate that Moby, a stranded whale studied since 1997, was at least 43 years old when he died, while another killer whale from 2015 was estimated to be around 65 years old or older. The study, published in Frontiers In Marine Science, combines radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis to provide a detailed understanding of the whales' lives.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Scientists from Glasgow and St Andrews universities used radiocarbon dating techniques on samples of whale teeth to explore details about the whales' lives. Each layer of growth in a whale’s tooth, similar to tree rings, forms annually, providing clues about diet and lifespan. The team focused on analyzing the distinctive rise and decline in radiocarbon caused by nuclear weapons testing from the mid-20th century. They identified another radioactive fingerprint called the "Sellafield signal," produced by radiocarbon discharges from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility into the Irish Sea. One whale, named Moby, was found to be at least 43 years old when it died, as his innermost tooth layers predated nuclear fallout in the marine environment. The findings were published in Frontiers In Marine Science, providing a unique insight into the lives of these marine mammals.
Written for “Whale Teeth Radiation Analysis” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 62754 · logged 2026-10-07
Researchers created what has been described as a kind of “dental time machine” using sophisticated radiocarbon dating techniques on samples of whale teeth to find out details about their lives.
asserted
what → create → lives
As with the rings of a tree, each layer of growth in a whale’s tooth is thought to form annually.
asserted
layer → think → tooth
The harmless trace radiocarbon information in their teeth, together with stable isotopes, provided clues about what the whales ate, where and how long they lived.
asserted
they → provide → what
The team drew on the distinctive rise and decline in radiocarbon caused by nuclear weapons testing, which began in the mid 20th century before later ceasing, with the fallout entering ecosystems in the sea and on land.
asserted
fallout → draw → land
Analysis of the radiocarbon preserved in the teeth allowed experts to determine whether layers formed before, during or after weapons testing, and estimate when different parts of the tooth were created.
asserted
parts → preserve → tooth
Testing carried out by the team found that when he died, Moby was aged at least 43 as the innermost layers of his teeth were formed before fallout from nuclear weapons testing affected the marine environment.
asserted
fallout → carry → environment
The findings are published in the journal Frontiers In Marine Science.
asserted
findings → publish → Science
He said: “My parents took me to see Moby when he arrived in the Firth of Forth in 1997, when I was six years old.
asserted
I → say → 1997
“A few days later, we saw pictures of him dead on the shore, and I had so many questions: How could this huge, amazing animal die so suddenly?
uncertain
animal → see → questions
Where had he come from? What sort of life had he had?
asserted
he → come → life
Read More
“Those questions have always stayed with me, and they have been a fundamental part of what has driven my career at the overlap of marine science and isotope research.
asserted
what → read → science
“To be able to hold one of Moby’s teeth 30 years later and do work which helps us understand a bit of the life he had is something I’m really proud of.”
asserted
I → hold → life
The research was led by scientists at SUERC: Centre for the Isotope Sciences in partnership with researchers from the universities of Glasgow, St Andrews, Edinburgh and National Museums Scotland.
asserted
research → lead → Glasgow
The team used SUERC’s accelerator mass spectrometer to analyse the radiocarbon found in each layer of the teeth.
asserted
team → use → teeth
The scientists found no clear sign of the nuclear-weapons testing signal but found a different radioactive fingerprint, the so-called “Sellafield signal” produced by radiocarbon discharges from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility into the Irish Sea and carried to the west of Scotland.
asserted
scientists → find → Scotland
The team also examined stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the tooth samples.
asserted
team → examine → samples
Their analysis of a tooth from a killer whale stranded on South Uist in 2015 suggested he was aged around 65 or perhaps even older, which researchers said would make him one of the oldest male killer whales on record.
uncertain
him → strand → record
Dr Tierney added: “By combining radiocarbon with stable isotope analysis, we can get a much richer picture of how these animals lived.
asserted
animals → add → picture
“We hope that this study adds a useful piece to our ever-growing understanding of the life histories of these two whale species.”
asserted
study → hope → species
The research was supported by funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research & Innovation.
asserted
research → support → Research
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