Browsing: Greenland sharks

Cruising Life
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New Study Finds 390-Year-Old Greenland Shark

A new study of Greenland sharks has found one that scientists say is probably 390 years old, making her the longest-living vertebrate on earth. Indeed, that age means the shark was born in 1631, just 11 years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and during the reign of King Charles 1 of England, although he was beheaded in 1649 after the English Civil War. Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen and the lead author of the new study, said, “I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old…

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Meet the Greenland Shark: Slow, Ugly and Possibly 500 Years Old

The Greenland shark, which can grow to 18 feet, is slow, with stunted pectoral fins, and looks somewhat dim-witted, with a blunt snout and a gaping mouth. It has atrocious eating habits, ranging from fresh halibut (that’s the good news) to rotting polar bear carcasses. They can be found throughout the North Atlantic, but particularly in cold and dark Arctic waters. And they live forever. Well, not forever, but at least 400 years, and perhaps longer. Scientists speculate that some of the larger ones alive today could have been born before Columbus. There is no question that they are the…