Yes, Some Greenland Sharks Are Old, but 400 Years Old?!

A Greenland shark swims near the surface after its release near a research vessel. (Credit: Julius Nielsen) Never ask a female her age — unless, of course, she’s a 16-foot-long Greenland shark and it’s for science. The shark species was shown to have remarkable longevity, living up to 400 years and reaching sexual maturity around 150 years, according to a paper published Thursday in Science. The researchers estimated the ages of 28 female Greenland sharks by radiocarbon dating proteins in their eye lenses and relying on the bomb pulse — a spike in radioactivity released globally by nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 60s. The estimates would make Greenland sharks among the longest-living animals, only out-aged by sedentary invertebrates like Ming the 507-year-old clam. Other scientists doubt the exact ages reported in the study, but agree that the sharks could be centenarians, which has important implications for conservation. “I have very little faith in the number they come up with … but it shouldn’t overshadow the overall message,” says Simon Thorrold, a marine biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the study. “Greenland sharks probably are very old and we need to know that, in terms of coming up with ways of conserving and sustainably managing any sort of human impact on them,” he says.