100-Year-Old Greenland Shark Washes Ashore: Rarely Spotted Species Can Live for 500 Years
A 100-year-old shark washed ashore in the Arctic, giving scientists a new opportunity to study a rarely spotted species.
Experts estimate Greenland sharks can live longer than 500 years, which would make them the longest-lived vertebrates, Knewz.com has learned.
A 100-year-old beached Greenland shark is giving scientists the chance to study the rarely spotted species thought to be the longest-lived vertebrate. By: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
The nearly 13-foot-long dead shark was discovered on Tuesday, December 12, in Avannarliit, which lies in the capital city Nuuk, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) announced in a press release.
Biologists identified the animal as a female and estimated she was just over 100 years old. They also found that she was “getting ready for new offspring,” drawing this conclusion from the fact that the she “had a very large liver,” the GINR press release said, when translated from Danish to English.
The GINR team dissected the shark and checked for “eggs or embryos, which would have been extraordinary since no pregnant females have ever been found in inshore areas,” but found no signs of pregnancy, the institute said, according to a Tuesday, January 23 report by The Miami Herald citing McClatchy News.
Biologists with the GINR identified the shark as a female and estimated she was just over 100 years old. By: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Daniel Estévez-Barcia, a biologist with the GINR, said the shark “was most likely killed in the fjord by fishermen on a longline vessel.” He said “the entire tail section had been cut away.”
The team was notified about the beached shark by witnesses like Annie Busk Lennert, who sent in a photo of the dead animal and claimed to have seen it in the water during a storm the previous day.
Lennert said she watched the shark “for a good while with binoculars” until it disappeared from view. “It was difficult to see if the animal was playing or fighting,” she said.
The shark was discovered on Tuesday, December 12, in Avannarliit, which lies in Greenland’s capital city Nuuk. By: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Weather records from December 11, 2023, show Nuuk was hit by wintry conditions including wind, snow and “heavy freezing rain.”
The GINR team drove to the beach to collect samples of the animal so that it could be studied before the tide swept it away.
Scientists estimate Greenland sharks can live at least 250 years, but “they may live over 500 years,” the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in an October 2023 article.
The head of the beached shark can be seen in this photo taken while scientists collected samples. By: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
“One theory to explain this long lifespan is that the Greenland shark has a very slow metabolism, an adaptation to the deep, cold waters it inhabits,” the agency said.
A nearly 16-foot-long female was estimated to be between 272 and 512 years old with carbon dating, the only method that can be used to age the species, according to NOAA.
“Scientists continue to refine this method and may provide more accurate measurements in the future,” the agency said in the article, “But even at the lower end of the estimates, a 272-year lifespan makes the Greenland shark the longest-lived vertebrate.”
The Greenland shark is the only shark that can withstand the cold temperatures of the Arctic Ocean year-round. They can grow up to 20 feet long and dive to depths as low as 7,200 feet. By: MEGA
The species is also the only shark that can withstand the cold temperatures of the Arctic Ocean year-round. They can grow up to 20 feet long and dive to depths as low as 7,200 feet.
Scientists believe Greenland sharks are “likely naturally rare and that they are near threatened with extinction,” according to Oceana. “Historically, there have been some commercial fishing operations to harvest this species’ livers for oil, and it is sometimes captured as accidental bycatch in fisheries targeting other species.”