The Greenland shark is currently the longest-living vertebrate known on Earth, according to scientists.
The age of 28 Greenland sharks were determined using radiocarbon dating of eye proteins, revealing that one female shark was estimated to be about 400 years old. This makes it the longest-living vertebrate known on Earth, surpassing the previous record holder, a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old.
As Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen who was the lead author of the study, put it: “We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were.”
Greenland sharks are massive creatures, capable of reaching up to 5m in length, but they grow at a slow rate of only 1cm per year. They can be found, swimming slowly, in the cold depths of the North Atlantic.
According to the research team, these animals only reach sexual maturity when they reach 4m in length, which, based on their estimated age range of up to 400 years, would not occur until they are approximately 150 years old.
The study partly relied on radiocarbon levels in the eye tissue of the sharks, which was made possible by the large amounts of radiocarbon released into the ocean during atmospheric thermonuclear weapons tests in the 1960s. Sharks with higher radiocarbon levels in their eye tissue were determined to be less than 50 years old, while those with lower levels were estimated to be at least 50 years or older.
The researchers then drew up an estimated an age range for the older sharks based on their size, and on prior data about Greenland sharks’ size at birth and growth rates in fish.
According to Nielsen, the analysis has a probability rate of around 95 percent and the sharks were determined to be at least 272 years old, but could be as much as 512 years old (!), with the most likely age being 390 years.
But why do Greenland sharks live so long?
The long lifespan of these animals is attributed to their extremely slow metabolism and the cold waters they inhabit. They move through the Arctic and North Atlantic waters at a very slow pace, earning them the nickname “sleeper sharks.” Despite having been found with seal parts in their stomachs, the sharks are so sluggish that experts believe they must have consumed the seals when they were either asleep or already dead.
The slower you go, the farther you will get.
The most amazing part of this article is how awful people are to other people when the article had absolutely nothing to do with people in the first place. Learn to read an article without becoming personally offended by everything or thinking that somehow every article, including articles about wild animals, are somehow politically motivated to attack you.
Yes
It probably went to a Cliff Richard concert when it was a teenager.
How does this creature which looks fairly docile and unthreatening with no visible means of defense (it doesn’t even look like it has teeth). Manage to survive for hundreds of years in the most hostile environment known to mankind? That is the real story.
Neat article. Hilarious comments. Thank you all for the entertainment. Hahaha.
My question is whether this critter was killed to determine its great age. Does not seem clear from the narration, does it?
One of the photos is captioned “…after it was released from research vessel…”
The article says it uses a radiocarbon scan of the sharks eyes to see how fast the proteins have deteriorated to determine the age. Radio carbon levels in the sharks eyes, after 1960’s nuclear bomb testing gave them a reference point, to try to work both forwards and backwards in time, to figure out how old the sharks might be. I hope my eye doctor doesn’t try that nuclear radiation method on me. I’ll willingly give him/her my age.
It literally says the age is determined by length and the cornea of the eyes.
Precisely.
Did you actually read the article ?
It shows a photo with a caption that stated it was released.
Great article, silly comments
Great article!
Imagine science making it possible for sharks to live as people out living everything by using dog ageing for political reasons to proove all is wrong with only biblical means and doing all of this by picking baby noses in in parts of the sky with the most radiocarbon.?
You’ll have to swim very, very slow trough really, really cold water. Wanna try?
I have no idea what you just said
How did they find seal parts in their bellies without killing them?
Maybe they serve the camera down it’s throat? It would, of course, have to be unconscious.
How do physicians remove a substance from a child’s stomach after an accidental overdose?
a. Induce vomiting
b. Gastric suction (stomach pumping)
c. Kill the child
There is such a procedure where they can perform a Gastroscope, putting a small camera down your throat into your stomach, I have had this many times, you can be awake for this procedure or have Sedation or for a child they would have an Anaesthetic…
And no they would not kill the child, that is a stupid statement to make…
I think that was his point
The sarcasm was implied…
What are you smoking, bro?
C….lol
Maybe they examined their excrements.
X ray
These sharks are dragged up in indiscriminate industrial fishing practices like trawling and deep water net techniques. The first specimens were made available as “bycatch”. Imagine that… Four centuries of individual witness to this world, only to be dragged up as the unintended consequence of our pillage and thrown back dead as a piece of rubbish…
It appears that the one in this video was caught with a HUGE hook. Do we really need to know about it so much that we have to harm it to study it? Ridiculous.
I never knew there was anything on earth that could live that long!! I think the calculation methods probably do have a lot of confounding variables to consider but, nonetheless, it’s entirely feasible that an animal could live that long in that sort of environment. I wonder what else is down there…..♥️
Can you not age them more accurately through the ear (rings)?
Sharks are cartilagnous and do not have otoliths or “ear bones”.
They don’t wear earrings…
Why don’t they have a look at its birth certificate?
This article is a perfect example of why people who cannot read, comprehend what they read, nor understand science should ever be allowed to comment on any article about science. Ever.
Correct.
Why?
You’ve contradicted yourself. If a set of individuals cannot comprehend what they read, this implies that they do read, and therefore can read.
On the other hand, if such individuals indeed cannot read, then the premise “they cannot comprehend what they read” is pointless, unless intended as a counterfactual (i.e., ‘If they could read something, they couldn’t comprehend it.’) for which you’ve provided no evidence (and quite probably can’t).
Also, you’ve left out a negative, unintentionally arguing that the aforementioned incapable individuals ever should, ever [sic] be allowed to comment on any article about science.
Best response ever!
I found this article very interesting and informative. Would much rather read and learn about our own world rather than one I will never be able to visit.
… because she’s still waiting for her kids to move out….
???
I don’t believe is true about this research because you can never tell me you know the age of a fish true is eye..
Reading severely damages your ignorance. You should try it and educate yourself. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it isn’t true ?
now that is just rude.
that’s right! because some can’t understand The Bible doesn’t mean It’s false (too)..
Bible. World’s most read fiction book
Close-minded much?
They are able to determine age by their size. They know how long the shark is at birth and they know how much they grow in 1 year. 18 feet converted into centimeters is 548.64, which make the shark over 500 years old.
I don’t understand what’s wrong with these humans because we are suppose to live on the land and not in the middle of the ocean. We all think that this entire planet belongs to us but it’s not. Imagine if someone broke Into your house and try’s to own everything like they built the place.
So my point is please leave these creatures alone.
Seriously what do we gain from researching these creatures and their behaviour, instead of that can’t we research something that really counts.
Just imagine if dinosaurs were still living, how would you feel.
I mean that’s pretty much what colonizers do. ?♀️
With more people like you we would still live in caves.
Besides that, bionic is a thing you know, also information is needed in order to understand live itself, develop plans to protect the nature and sometimes information is gathered for the information itself.
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/medicines-sea
There is a lot we have learned from the ocean we use to better medicine and life in general.
Dilum you’re a sausage short of a BBQ, or did you forget to take your brains from the jar alongside your bed and put back between your ears, because without this research and learning about these animals and others like them we will never learn how to protect them and see to it we have them here in the future.
Without this kind of research we learn nothing, we would not know what is needed to to make sure of their numbers and how what we do affects them. Research is the only way we will learn this, so by capturing animals where it is these sharks or any other animal we would be in the dark as to how things like water temperature, pollution, and climate are affecting their survival now and into future.
So Dilum how about you think before making such dumb and foolish statements, just think if there had been no research on humans where would we be today when it comes to medical issues for us??
I’m just seeing this today, February 8, 2021, and that’s when you wrote this. Everything else was sort of a ancient history 2020. I’ve enjoyed reading all of these replies, It makes it more fun knowing we both woke up to the same sunrise.
You live where wild creatures once lived, you hypocrite.
a very interesting article. Enjoyed it very much. I’m glad the shark was released back into the wild
Apparently the had to kill one to find out what they eat?
Not always. I once had to swallow a “pill camera” to take video of my entire digestive tract. Maybe they did something similar.
Fisher people sometimes catch unintended fish/sharks. Sometimes when this happens they end up being used for scientific research.
Maybe it died of old age
really please really one look at its eye really a blue eyed shark and second did it loose its dentures or what?
What you are seeing isn’t really a blue eye, it’s a blind eye. If you look closely, you’ll see a stringy thing attached to the center of it. These are parasites that have uniquely evolved to live on the eye tissue of greenland sharks, the consequence of which results in the discoloration you see, and blindness.
Learn some science bud. Also grammar is nice.
nothing on a great white!
Lmao Trump gets brought into everything ppl r rediculous…life is what u make it y b miseravle anyways great article, very interesting
Trump? Where? Amazing.
I’m sorry, who? I’ve already forgotten.
Can you please use whole, properly spelled-out words? Your dialect makes my head hurt.
Is there a “dog year/shark year” thing going on? Are we talking actually lived years or??
Robin did you or did you not read the article ???? it said years as in years, that they believed the shark was born in the early 1600s, they know that these sharks only grow at 1cm a year so just sit back and work out how many cms are in an Icelandic Shark measuring 4mtrs in length that will give you a very close idea of the age.
There is also another small shark that the name slips me at the moment that also lives to be around 250 years old and, don’t forget that the giant Galopigas Tortes can live to be 200 years old.
They actually said it was likely alive in the 1500’s, so you should probably stop insulting people when you don’t know either.
Some of these comments are unbelievable…. good for a laugh!…ppl are crazy!… lol
Wow that is utterly amazing! What else lurks beneath the murky waters ? By the way , your book is great but scaring me lol. Not done yet.
Eqalussuasaurus????
They should more accurately name them US Postal sharks.
amazing
I guess they should name it “Pilgrim” (Mayflower 1620).
I think that this is a great idea!
No Kidding they would believe it would give them longevity! Idiots
Well that’s a plain example of racism
They stated the age dating method was based on the shark growing 1cm per year … how do they know the shark didn’t grow more quickly when it was younger, then its growth slowed as it aged? Just curious …
they pro looked at young sharks for data on young sharks
They didn’t use that to determine age, they used radiocarbon dating on the eye proteins
They actually did use the yearly growth rate to estimate the sharks age that are older than 50 years old because they didn’t have anything else to reference for example they referenced the sharks eyes with the nuclear bomb teats in the 60’s to determine the younger ones were 50 years old or less.
Researchers used radiocarbon dating of eye proteins to determine the ages.
No carbon daring their eye was how they estimated the age and then estimated that their growth was that for comparing birth size to more mature sharks.
This articale was awesome! I found it soooooooo interesting!????
I think this is amazing and so much to be learned from this study. Some of the comments and of course one must add something political, are ridiculous. Cant we jsut experience the report for what it is. Clearly the shark was released. Another picture shows a diver swimming with the sharks. Please let us enjoy the read without your personal need to espouse your views unrelated.
My thoughts exactly. I loved the article
Do you know the only thing more important than your life? ~Life Itself~ Without it you would never have had yours.
Sad to think of but, with their mentality, gotta be true.
Or the North Americans to make longevity Chondroitin
Ain’t it the truth?!
All they needed was some proteins from the eyes for radio carbon dating.
THIS is GREAT…
Don’t tell China, it will be another cure for some unknown disease. Let’s leave the creatures alone
ha yes
Agreed!!!
You see…things could alwsy be worse…you could have been born a Greenland SharK…What a dreadful life!!
Would be fine with me. Life as a liberal would be far worse
What a ridiculous statement!
Agreed!
It’s called a joke!!! Don’t take everything do seriously. Great article
Now that’s a nasty thing to say. What does that have to do with sharks and longevity? This is exactly the mentality Trump has adopted about science: Science vs politics. Leave the politics out of science. You want a cure to every disease you acquire the same as any other liberal or conservative does. Ya gotta quit with that mindset for the sake of science.
Geeze… Karen. You must be a real “Karen” to be so hateful and get political on an article about sharks
Politisising everything
Teresa what does trump have to do with sharks and longevity? That’s a nasty thing to say! You must be a liberal! ?
I wonder if the shark is a liberal?.. ??
All I can say is that these sharks must get awfully tired . . . don’t ya think? Wow!
Aks a boy if he gets tired from playing computer games for 20 hours daily…?
Right is the correct headline Scientists Kill Oldest Shark in the Ocean to See How Old It Is
They released them back into the sea.
They didn’t kill it, I don’t think, it they found an already dead one
They don’t kill them when they catch them. They study them and put them back, as they do for all.
They took samples from the eye to carbon date
That is indeed what “science” is capable of…we call it “research'”
Do you even know how to science?!) Lol. At least read the article. There is no longer a need to kill animals in the wild to conduct research. The shark was not killed. The article even says that. Please learn. Please read.
They probably dissected a shark that was dead already. Because you are right, Scientists would not kill such a rare and old creature.
Inuit fisherman from Greenland catch the Sharks and feed them to the sled dogs, as the meat is not fit for human consumption. River Monsters had a good episode on Greenland sharks. Worth the watch.
Incorrect, it is considered a delicacy served after being buried for a year. The meat has a similar effect on dogs pre burying as it does humans & so they would not wish to jeopardise their dogs. They stuff them with birds & bury them & they are served for celebratory feasts. The Icelandic people do something similar & call it Hákarl. Other sleeper sharks also can be used in the same fashion.
Dang Eloise are you from Greenland or Iceland? That’s pretty interesting what does it taste like?
I saw that episode quite awesome!
I was thinking the same thing, how do they know what was in their belly & what did they do to get to the conclusions since its testing the eyes, now they’ve made it public will they stay safe or an on slaughter will be on their way :/
Why is the shark hooked? This seems Unusually cruel; especially when studying such a rare creature!
Yes!! My thoughts exactly.
Thank you
Did they kill the shark to learn its stomach contents? Did they poke a needle in her eye?
They kill 10 or so per year, the easiest way is to stab them through the eye.
Greenland sharks are eaten in Iceland and Norway. The meat must be carefully prepared or it will be poisonous.
I’m from Norway, and people here certainly do no such thing!!! In Iceland they eat other, more common sharks (dogfish) but not Greenland sharks. I don’t think they live anywhere close to Iceland either.
Where did you hear/read such a thing? My mother and step father live in Norway ?
Also my comment was misplaced. It was meant for the fellow above.
It’s like pressure testing. No needles. I’m sure they have come across dead ones, I’m sure people catch them eat them. But in the article it says they did the carbon date testing and released it back after tagging it. I think it’s really cool to tag them and be able to locate how far they travel, go back and check on them see how the climate change is affecting them etc. doing this type of testing especially on a species that lives this long will be interesting to know how much we are affecting aquatic wildlife. This was such a cool article and so cool to learn about a different animal. I wish we knew more about what lives in the depths of the sea it could tell us so much about our earth and what lived before us. This was such a treat!
So interesting. Thank for your work and reporting.
So is your headline serious? It sounds like satire: “Scientists Discover 400-Year-Old Greenland Shark Likely Born Around 1620”.
About what year would you expect a 400-year-old shark to be born? Surely 400 years ago! 🙂
Date is correct…
You sound like and old grumpy man who have to complain over everything he can think about, instead of being amassed over this animal…. ?
oh please learn to spell
well they can’t exactly ask the shark its age so… yes its a guesstimate
Why don’t they just check it’s Diver’s License?
Either your eyesight or your arithmetic is faulty
Some people really cannot do aimple math. Some may even think 400 doesn’t sound so old, until they think about how long ago 1620 was.
But it is redundant.