It’s difficult to fathom that something alive today was born as far back as 1505. In that year, historical events like Martin Luther becoming a monk and King Henry VIII ending his engagement with Catherine of Aragon took place – a truly distant past. Yet, scientists now believe they have discovered just that – a colossal Greenland shark swimming in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean, estimated to be around 512 years old.
Greenland sharks have been known to live for hundreds of years and spend most of their lives swimming around looking for a mate. That’s a long time to wait.
The shark’s potential age was revealed in a study in the Science journal, according to the Sun.If scientists have got the shark’s age right, it would have been alive during major historical events like the founding of the US, the Industrial Revolution and both World Wars. Crikey.Greenland sharks mostly eat fish but have never actually been observed hunting. Some have even been found to have reindeer and even horse remains in their stomachs. The animal is a delicacy in Norway but its flesh is poisonous if not treated properly.
Because of their longevity, academics in Norway believe that the bones and tissues of Greenland sharks may give us insight into the impact of climate change and pollution over a long period of history.Researchers at the Arctic University of Norway are currently mapping the animal’s DNA, looking at its genes to learn more about what determines life expectancy in different species, including humans.As many of the sharks pre-date the Industrial Revolution and large-scale commercial fishing, the sharks have even been called ‘living time capsules’ that could help shed light on how human behaviour impacts the oceans.”The longest living vertebrate species on the planet has formed several populations in the Atlantic Ocean,” said Professor Kim Praebel at a symposium organised by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles.”This is important to know, so we can develop appropriate conservation actions for this important species.”
