Greenland Sharks Can Live Over 500 Years

In the frigid, deep waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic, ancient mariners glide through the darkness. The Greenland shark's staggering lifespan, potentially exceeding 500 years, is a direct result of its extreme environment. The icy water slows its metabolism to a crawl, causing it to grow at a glacial pace of about one centimeter per year and conserve energy in the food-scarce depths. This slow-motion existence means that some of these sharks swimming today were born before the time of Shakespeare, making them living witnesses to centuries of human history.

Determining the age of these creatures is a scientific marvel. Since they lack the bony structures typically used for aging fish, researchers turned to the shark's eye lens. The proteins in the center of the lens are formed before birth and remain metabolically inert, creating a perfect time capsule. By using radiocarbon dating on these proteins, scientists can accurately estimate the shark's birth year. This slow life has a profound impact on their development; females are believed to not even reach sexual maturity until they are over 150 years old, making them one of the oldest teenagers in the animal kingdom.