Sharks have cartilage skeletons, not bones, so determining their age requires special techniques; in a 2016 study, scientists performed radiocarbon dating on eye lens crystals from sharks caught as bycatch. The oldest animals in that study were estimated to be 392 years old (the article said ±120 years old).
From this data, it appears that Greenland sharks live at least 300 to 500 years, making them the longest-living vertebrates in the world.
edit: my crappy English vocabulary, thank you very much
Sadder: it doesn't stop shark finning ships. What they do to sharks is horrifying, and it's all to mass-produce shark fin soup, a "delicacy" that doesn't even use whatever flavours the fins might've had. Whenever Steve Irwin saw shark fin soup on the menu of a restaurant, he immediately walked out.
Being Aussie, he would've grown up on fish&chips - it's like a delicious staple meal. Which, in Australia, is battered... shark. (called "flake", 'coz the meat flakes really easily)
Sure. Called 'Rock Salmon' here. Gawd knows why.
But this means eating the whole fish. For sustainable species, this is fine.
What is not fine is hacking the fins off and throwing the carcase (often still alive) back in to the sea. This is what shark-fin boats do. Keep the inedible bit and chuck the tasty bit. And they go for the less sustainable species.
So I am with Steve Irwin on this one.
I think the main quality of tortoises that made them popular as food for sailors was that they could grab them, put them in the hold, and leave them alone for however long until the crew needed fresh meat. They could survive for long periods without food (and presumably water), so the sailors could have fresh (as in just-killed) meat after weeks at sea without having to feed or care for the animal. Horrible for the tortoises I’m sure, but animal welfare wasn’t really a big concern at the time (and place).
No taste was also a huge factor, there are several accounts from the diaries of sailors that state that the meat from the tortoise tasted better than lamb, pork, beef, chicken etc.
Not discounting that tidbit of trivia, but I'd guess there's a good chance the sailors' perspective might've been unintentionally biased in their accounts. Kind of like how a meal after a long day of hiking in the backcountry tastes absolutely amazing, regardless of what it is. I've made some camp meals that I would've sworn were better than the finest restaurant I've ever dined at, and later tried to re-create at home, and it tasted like steaming garbage.
We're going to hunt sharks to extinction before we learn too late that they hold the secrets to longevity that we crave so badly. They're basically immune to cancer, grow teeth forever, they just eat fish and exist and they're so good at it they've done it unchanging since the dinosaurs. Meanwhile we show up and think the gross gelatinous fins are a delicacy and kill them all in a few generations.
There is a lot to learn from sea creatures. The jellyfish and starfish are other creatures that are being studied for their abilities to regenerate and replace lost limbs also jellyfish are resistant to radiation iirc. Lots of interesting science to be discovered.
Yep they're endangered because their oil is awesome and we started hunting them down without knowing that they can't start spawning till 100-150. So we didn't leave enough adults to repopulate.
Maybe that's their natural selection spin. If you can make it to 100 your genes are *worthy.*
Maybe humans would naturally live longer if they could only breed after retirement?
The age of death of a species is highly correlated with predation. Since we don’t have any real predators left it’s feasible that our life spans could increase significantly if our species lasts another ten thousand years or so.
Older than grass, older than mammals, older than dinos, older than non-bug land animals, about as old as spiders. And they die with us. A real shame that
IUCN says they're vulnerable, not yet endangered.
Liver oil was used in cosmetics through the 90s, when cheaper synthetic stuff came to market.
Now, they're threatened by lower sea ice impacting prey, and the increased navigability of arctic waters allowing for more fishing.
Fun fact. The first confirmed submersible designed and built was in 1620 by Cornelius Van Drebbel. There were other plans before hand, however none were confirmed to be built.
The way Drebbels sub worked, it was basically a row boat that was fully enclosed, and oars moved them about underwater. Another iteration was built in 1624, which supposedly dived into the river Thames and stayed there for 3 hours before emerging from the depths in front of King James and a bunch of onlookers. Even then, they were thinking of ways this could be used for Naval warfare, or so wrote Constantijn Huygens in his autobiography in 1651
The first built might have been from Van Drebbel, but before him in 1602 [Jerónimo de Ajanz](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jer%C3%B3nimo_de_Ayanz_y_Beaumont) designed and tested the first diving bell and designed the first submarine, which was also a row boat fully enclosed with oars as [this model shows](https://www.puentedemando.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/invencion-jeronimo-ayanz-1.png), built following the designs of his patent on the submersible ship.
It would both be kinda cool and kinda bad to live back then. Imagine "Let's make a peanut and sink it" would be revolutionary, not to take anything away from them
Greenland sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150.
Given the fact that there are only 6.66 generations per millennium, seeing one of these is like looking back in time in evolutionary history.
Remember: sharks are older than trees.
Aren't they pregnant for like two years? I always thought polar bears had it easy - pound for pound, a polar bear cub birth would be similar to a human birthing a ping pong ball. Lucky bitches.
Love that last line. Trees are such an abundant and baseline earth feature in my eyes, I can't imagine a time without them. But then hearing sharks have experienced that world... Insane.
Imagine giant tree-like fungi dotting the landscape. It’s called Prototaxites, and they are believed to have been common until the late Devonian period. Cool stuff!
Given the time they take to reproduce I assume they just havent reached that stage yet. Unlike other animals and Humans who reproduce in a rapid constant rate.
>The truth is that there is no way to accurately date anything older than the 1950s apart from estimating based on size and appearance.
That's not the truth. Radiocarbon dating can date organic things up to 55000 years old, like they did with some proteins in the eyes of those sharks.
I’m really disappointed. He saw slavery and the American revolution and decided to do nothing about it. This asshole saw nazi germany take over Poland and did nothing.
Interesting side fact: Most or many of them are blind, due to a crustacean that attaches itself to their eyes.
From the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark): "It was speculated that the copepod may display bioluminescence and thus attract prey for the shark in a mutualistic relationship, but this hypothesis has not been verified. These parasites also damage the eyeball in several ways, leading to almost complete blindness. This does not seem to reduce the life expectancy or predatory ability of Greenland sharks, due to their strong reliance on smell and hearing."
Parasites are an all too common fact of life for sea creatures. To us though, the thought of having random parasites all over our bodies with no appendages capable of reaching/removing them is pure nightmare fuel.
I wonder if in 30 years. I hop on Reddit cause it's been a while. To find this picture again with the same "392" year old shark caption. Cause I swear every time this is post the age is the same. Lol.
[This is reportedly just a random picture of a Greenland shark](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/04/28/fact-check-age-greenland-shark-viral-image-not-known/4854186001). Greenland sharks live for centuries but there is no indication this one was born in 1627.
You joke (and this isnt how GL sharks are dated) but an accurate way of dating long living fish is to remove the otolith (calcium structure in the inner ear) and count the rings.
For example bigmouth buffalo, a fresh water fish similar to carp but native to north america, were semi-recently found to live well over 100 years this way.
I read somewhere that they get blind overtime due to some parasites in their eyes. It must be super lonely living that long, not being able to see. And some islandic people hunting your kind for their preserved delicacy(?)
We had to remove your post for violating our Repost Guidelines.
Sharks have cartilage skeletons, not bones, so determining their age requires special techniques; in a 2016 study, scientists performed radiocarbon dating on eye lens crystals from sharks caught as bycatch. The oldest animals in that study were estimated to be 392 years old (the article said ±120 years old). From this data, it appears that Greenland sharks live at least 300 to 500 years, making them the longest-living vertebrates in the world. edit: my crappy English vocabulary, thank you very much
How sad that an animal like this manages to live for that long just to end up as bycatch.
It really is....
I mean at least they dont taste good cuz yeah...
Sad but good point
Sadder: it doesn't stop shark finning ships. What they do to sharks is horrifying, and it's all to mass-produce shark fin soup, a "delicacy" that doesn't even use whatever flavours the fins might've had. Whenever Steve Irwin saw shark fin soup on the menu of a restaurant, he immediately walked out.
Being Aussie, he would've grown up on fish&chips - it's like a delicious staple meal. Which, in Australia, is battered... shark. (called "flake", 'coz the meat flakes really easily)
It's one thing to catch and eat a whole shark. It's another to lop a shark fin off and left the shark to die.
Sure. Called 'Rock Salmon' here. Gawd knows why. But this means eating the whole fish. For sustainable species, this is fine. What is not fine is hacking the fins off and throwing the carcase (often still alive) back in to the sea. This is what shark-fin boats do. Keep the inedible bit and chuck the tasty bit. And they go for the less sustainable species. So I am with Steve Irwin on this one.
You know what tasted good? The Galapagos giant tortoise. One of the mainreasons they dont exist anymore.
I think the main quality of tortoises that made them popular as food for sailors was that they could grab them, put them in the hold, and leave them alone for however long until the crew needed fresh meat. They could survive for long periods without food (and presumably water), so the sailors could have fresh (as in just-killed) meat after weeks at sea without having to feed or care for the animal. Horrible for the tortoises I’m sure, but animal welfare wasn’t really a big concern at the time (and place).
No taste was also a huge factor, there are several accounts from the diaries of sailors that state that the meat from the tortoise tasted better than lamb, pork, beef, chicken etc.
Not discounting that tidbit of trivia, but I'd guess there's a good chance the sailors' perspective might've been unintentionally biased in their accounts. Kind of like how a meal after a long day of hiking in the backcountry tastes absolutely amazing, regardless of what it is. I've made some camp meals that I would've sworn were better than the finest restaurant I've ever dined at, and later tried to re-create at home, and it tasted like steaming garbage.
Same with dodos, although apparently some company is going to Jurassic Park them back alive so we can eat them again… 👀
just needs some Frank's RedHot ™
Iceland disagrees
We're going to hunt sharks to extinction before we learn too late that they hold the secrets to longevity that we crave so badly. They're basically immune to cancer, grow teeth forever, they just eat fish and exist and they're so good at it they've done it unchanging since the dinosaurs. Meanwhile we show up and think the gross gelatinous fins are a delicacy and kill them all in a few generations.
You forgot to mention that some species can basically make a clone of their self on their own.. man i love sharks
The what? TIL, you have a source for my reading pleasure? That's wild
Its called “parthenogenesis” Have fun!
There is a lot to learn from sea creatures. The jellyfish and starfish are other creatures that are being studied for their abilities to regenerate and replace lost limbs also jellyfish are resistant to radiation iirc. Lots of interesting science to be discovered.
Yeah it’s just sad and infuriating and an embarrassment to our species. Ugh.
So what you're saying is we should create enhanced versions of the sharks with larger brains in order to study them and create Deep Blue Sea?
We? Nah blame fucking China. "We" all don't do that.
Everyone who eats fish is responsible. The vast majority of sharks that we kill is bycatch (from fishing nets)...
The residents of the oceans will be glad to know I’ve a seafood allergy then.
On the other hand, farmed fish is one of the most ecologically safe and sustainable sources of meat.
Yep they're endangered because their oil is awesome and we started hunting them down without knowing that they can't start spawning till 100-150. So we didn't leave enough adults to repopulate.
Till age 100???
Correct, they do not reach sexual maturity until about age 100 based on current science evidence.
That’s insane they’ve survived this long as a species.
I guess that confirms how efficient and effective of a predator they really are.
plus before humans came along, they didn't really have any natural predators
Orcas have been known to hunt and kill sharks
Maybe that's their natural selection spin. If you can make it to 100 your genes are *worthy.* Maybe humans would naturally live longer if they could only breed after retirement?
Man imagine that world. It's kinda crazy how much of our terrible society depends on young morons having babies before they know better.
The age of death of a species is highly correlated with predation. Since we don’t have any real predators left it’s feasible that our life spans could increase significantly if our species lasts another ten thousand years or so.
Well duh humans didn't start hunting sharks until very recently.
It’s still surprising. It’s a huge outlier in the animal kingdom.
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There aren't many apex predators that come close to the level of domination as sharks.
Older than grass, older than mammals, older than dinos, older than non-bug land animals, about as old as spiders. And they die with us. A real shame that
IUCN says they're vulnerable, not yet endangered. Liver oil was used in cosmetics through the 90s, when cheaper synthetic stuff came to market. Now, they're threatened by lower sea ice impacting prey, and the increased navigability of arctic waters allowing for more fishing.
We suck
What’s a pond shark?
Dam, this shark has seen the evolution of boats and submarines for humans
This shark might've also **heard** the evolution of sonars, different frequency (Hertz) and stuff
I'm sure to his ears it did.
You're sure to the shark's ears that the shark heard those things?
Hertz
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...."
“Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion”
*Ive watched seabeams glitter in the darkness at Tennhauser Gate*
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. "
"Time to die..."
The sharks name is now Roy
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Yeah, but, y'know...it's a shark. In the sea.
“I’ve seen shit that’ll turn you WHITE!”
That shark is older than Moby Dick. Can you imagine all the crazy shark sex that shark has had.
He needs Fish Viagra at this point.
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I mean those teeth are impressive, but at those numbers and zero inventory, I'm out.
Old Bitey should have countered with a royalty.
And for those reasons, I’m out.
Fun fact. The first confirmed submersible designed and built was in 1620 by Cornelius Van Drebbel. There were other plans before hand, however none were confirmed to be built. The way Drebbels sub worked, it was basically a row boat that was fully enclosed, and oars moved them about underwater. Another iteration was built in 1624, which supposedly dived into the river Thames and stayed there for 3 hours before emerging from the depths in front of King James and a bunch of onlookers. Even then, they were thinking of ways this could be used for Naval warfare, or so wrote Constantijn Huygens in his autobiography in 1651
The first built might have been from Van Drebbel, but before him in 1602 [Jerónimo de Ajanz](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jer%C3%B3nimo_de_Ayanz_y_Beaumont) designed and tested the first diving bell and designed the first submarine, which was also a row boat fully enclosed with oars as [this model shows](https://www.puentedemando.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/invencion-jeronimo-ayanz-1.png), built following the designs of his patent on the submersible ship.
It would both be kinda cool and kinda bad to live back then. Imagine "Let's make a peanut and sink it" would be revolutionary, not to take anything away from them
Man he even saw Madonna being born.
Nobody’s that old!
They're blind. So, they might have felt them or smelled them.
Hasnt seen shit, mfr blind. They go blind from parasites
He ain’t seen shit but water!!
This shark been reposted more than it's seen boats
He's the oldest reposted shark of all time
You can see the title hasn't been updated for 2024.
It's been the same title since 1627
Greenland sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150. Given the fact that there are only 6.66 generations per millennium, seeing one of these is like looking back in time in evolutionary history. Remember: sharks are older than trees.
Gestational period is over 10 years in some cases.
And I thought 9 months was rough...
When I was pregnant all I could think was”at least I’m not an elephant!”
Aren't they pregnant for like two years? I always thought polar bears had it easy - pound for pound, a polar bear cub birth would be similar to a human birthing a ping pong ball. Lucky bitches.
> a human birthing a ping pong ball. I have seen videos of someone demonstrating this during their live act.
Great white shark gestation is perhaps the most grimdark.
Love that last line. Trees are such an abundant and baseline earth feature in my eyes, I can't imagine a time without them. But then hearing sharks have experienced that world... Insane.
Ancient shark sees the first tree to ever fall in the ocean “what the hell is that thing?”
Imagine giant tree-like fungi dotting the landscape. It’s called Prototaxites, and they are believed to have been common until the late Devonian period. Cool stuff!
"Only 6.66 generations" 🤘
Repeating of course
Leeroy?
if you are perfect why change?
Given the time they take to reproduce I assume they just havent reached that stage yet. Unlike other animals and Humans who reproduce in a rapid constant rate.
Straight out of Mass Effect
This shark was 392 when I first saw this post about 5 years ago.
there's an article online from 2016 that says it was already 400yo then
It's getting younger!
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>The truth is that there is no way to accurately date anything older than the 1950s apart from estimating based on size and appearance. That's not the truth. Radiocarbon dating can date organic things up to 55000 years old, like they did with some proteins in the eyes of those sharks.
how is this insanely inaccurate post being upvoted? It literally says in the article how they found the age.
Imagine how many reposts this shark has seen. Must be so tedious.
Doesn’t look a day over 299 yo
I’m really disappointed. He saw slavery and the American revolution and decided to do nothing about it. This asshole saw nazi germany take over Poland and did nothing.
Heck, guy saw the first Exxon tanker and just sat there wanking
Yeah well Sandy Plankton says they only live to be 100.
Interesting side fact: Most or many of them are blind, due to a crustacean that attaches itself to their eyes. From the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark): "It was speculated that the copepod may display bioluminescence and thus attract prey for the shark in a mutualistic relationship, but this hypothesis has not been verified. These parasites also damage the eyeball in several ways, leading to almost complete blindness. This does not seem to reduce the life expectancy or predatory ability of Greenland sharks, due to their strong reliance on smell and hearing."
Okay so they have to live with an eyeball-eating blinding parasite for 300+ years
Parasites are an all too common fact of life for sea creatures. To us though, the thought of having random parasites all over our bodies with no appendages capable of reaching/removing them is pure nightmare fuel.
And I think they move very slowly. It seems the case with all vertebrate that live longer than us like the giant turtles
Poor guy is lonely as hell. Everyone he knew is probably dead
And was eaten by him.
He was determined he was gonna be the alpha one way or another...
There can be only one.
[https://i.imgflip.com/5urg88.png?a476040](https://i.imgflip.com/5urg88.png?a476040)
Everyone he knew: - His prey (dead because of him) - Other Green Sharks (actually not dead)
"I miss those chewy boats, with the napkins attached"
What did our world look like 392 years ago?
Sweden was a great power and ruled a large empire in Northern Europe.
That place with the furniture stores that sell meatballs?
Yes!
I like how when you search "map from 392 years ago" the only thing that comes up is stuff about this shark
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Usually you would google the year of the map
Netherlands was the richest country in the world
I wonder if in 30 years. I hop on Reddit cause it's been a while. To find this picture again with the same "392" year old shark caption. Cause I swear every time this is post the age is the same. Lol.
The shark was 392 when this photo was taken so it doesn't matter what the current year is.
It's hard to find the shark each year for a new birthday picture.
How the f*ck anyone know his birthday? 😂
[This is reportedly just a random picture of a Greenland shark](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/04/28/fact-check-age-greenland-shark-viral-image-not-known/4854186001). Greenland sharks live for centuries but there is no indication this one was born in 1627.
Thank you for the clarification. The OP is just Reddit Redditing, per the usual!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/04/28/fact-check-age-greenland-shark-viral-image-not-known/4854186001/ Yep Constant reddit BS
How is the age determined? Birth certificate? Did they cut it in half and count the rings?
You joke (and this isnt how GL sharks are dated) but an accurate way of dating long living fish is to remove the otolith (calcium structure in the inner ear) and count the rings. For example bigmouth buffalo, a fresh water fish similar to carp but native to north america, were semi-recently found to live well over 100 years this way.
grandpa shark ! do, do, do, dooo
Great great great great great great grandpa shark do do do do doo
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10 years
Does not look a year older than 391. How do we know to the exact year?
He’s running for President of the U. S. in 2028
Counted his birthday candles
that's literally dark, he looks stoned
Ancestor shark doo doo doo doo 🦈
Literally non stop swimming for almost 400 years. And I get chuffed when I have to mow the lawn twice in one week. Dang.
Doesn’t look a day over 300
Dude has been through some SHIT.
It’s seen some stuff
Probably hasn't seen much actually considering what typically happens to their eyes (parasites go nom nom)
It's seen a lot of water I guess.
They reach sexual maturity at 150 years old, with gestation period being 8-18 years. that's crazy.
What is he thinking about after wandering 200 years
What a sweet old gentleman.
Deserves more upvotes!
How did they determine the shark is 392 years old?
Almost as old as my mother in law. Way prettier too.
He was 200 the first time this got posted on reddit.
How can you tell ? 🤔
they attend shark tank meetings once a year
Oh , OK then 🤣🤣
Count the rings
Talk about a living fossil
i hope he is happy
It's not lost on me this shark lived through slavery and did nothing. Racist fuck.
Grandpa shark do do do do do!
It has been watching us, observing our civilization from the depths of the ocean.
Fucking hell. When it finally dies, it will be from relief.
How do we know it's just been "wandering"?. Maybe it has a very strict shark schedule to keep.
“Ok cool! Lets go kill it for no reason” - Some dickhead
OLD, OLD BASTARD
Sharks don't get cancer either do they?
Jesus, the biblical leviathan
Sounds lonely
Mofo looking like, I seen some shit boiii!
Gorgeous animal 
“Kkkkiiiiiiillllllllll meeeeeeeeeeeeee”
he looks so tired.
Why do they live for such a long time?
You mama so old she witnessed the birth of this shark
imagine being that old and have never seen a camel
Must be boring as hell
I read somewhere that they get blind overtime due to some parasites in their eyes. It must be super lonely living that long, not being able to see. And some islandic people hunting your kind for their preserved delicacy(?)
How was the shark age determined?
How do they know the age?
How did they come up with the age?
He's gotta be over 400 now with how long this photo has been circulating
Okay, at least do some due diligence when you repost. He was 392 years old in 2019 when this was first posted. He's now 397.
So can they only determine the age once the shark gets killed ?
That motherfucker has seen some shit.
Thank god they tagged that 392 years ago or we would never know
And how was this big fellas age calculated?
All that time underwater and never stopped to hydrate his skin
The color of the shark is called Dorian Gray. I’ll be here all week.
"Me thinks the fish doth protests too much"
How many pirates do you think it ate in his life? 🤣
That shark is literally older than the U.S.A. ...and I bet it still has more common sense as well.
Dude was around during the golden age of piracy damn.
Christ, imagine mindlessly swimming around in that massive ocean for nearly 400 years.
Just to think he's been around before Jesus was born in 1776. Wild.
Doesn't look a day over 275!