Greenland Sharks Can Live Over 400 Years — Here’s How Their Cells May Hold Clues to Aging
A shark born around the time of Shakespeare may still be swimming beneath Arctic ice. That’s not a metaphor — it’s the conclusion of research that has reshaped how scientists understand vertebrate aging and could carry implications for longevity research worldwide.
The Greenland shark can live 250 to over 400 years, making it the longest-living vertebrate ever discovered. For those surrounded by ocean ecosystems that are home to some of the country’s most active marine research communities, the science emerging from this species touches on deep-sea fisheries, conservation and the biology of aging itself.
A 2016 Shark Study Rewrote the Record Books
For decades, Greenland sharks drew little scientific attention. Slow-moving, deep-dwelling and rarely encountered, they were an afterthought in marine biology. That changed when marine biologist Julius Nielsen led a study published in Science in 2016.
Nielsen’s team couldn’t rely on traditional aging methods. Counting rings on teeth or bones doesn’t work well for these slow-growing animals. Instead, they turned to the shark’s eye lens, which contains a protein core formed before birth that never gets replaced. Over centuries, carbon from the environment accumulates in that protein. By measuring levels of radiocarbon — a naturally occurring form of carbon that changes over time — the team could calculate how long the protein, and the shark, had existed.
“We had an expectation that they would be very long-lived animals, but I was surprised that they turned out to be as old as they did,” Nielsen said. He was careful to frame the results with precision: “It’s an estimate. It’s not a determination. It is the best we can do.”
The oldest sharks in the study were likely “between 272 and 512 years old … But even the lowest part of the age range still makes Greenland sharks the longest-living vertebrate known to science,” Nielsen said. Even the youngest adults in the study were centuries old.
How Cold Water and Radical Slowness Impact Greenland Sharks
The Greenland shark’s secret isn’t some exotic biological mechanism. These sharks inhabit near-freezing waters where their metabolism operates at a fraction of the pace of most other sharks. That slow metabolism minimizes cellular wear and tear, allowing their bodies to function across centuries.
Their growth rate tells the story: less than one centimeter per year. They may not reach sexual maturity until 100 to 150 years old. As National Geographic described it, “The Greenland shark lives life in the slow lane — so slow that it may not even reach adulthood for a century.”
Their deep-ocean habitat reinforces all of this. The cold, stable environment reduces environmental stress and preserves biological systems over long periods. According to NOAA, cold-water species often have slower metabolisms, which can contribute to longer lifespans.
Researchers exploring Greenland shark genetics have found hints of enhanced DNA repair and cellular maintenance that could slow aging at a fundamental level.
How Greenland Sharks Use Their Senses to Their Advantage
Despite moving at barely more than a crawl, the Greenland shark is an effective hunter. It feeds on fish, squid and even seals, likely relying on stealth and patience rather than speed. Many are partially blind due to parasites on their eyes, yet they navigate and hunt using keen senses of smell and vibration detection.
Marine ecologist Kim Praebel explains: “They don’t need to see very well in the deep sea. Smell and other senses are far more important.”
Their flesh is toxic when fresh. In Iceland, it is traditionally fermented and dried to make hákarl, a dish famous for its strong smell and taste.
Conservation Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Greenland sharks face modern threats their biology makes them uniquely vulnerable to. They are frequently caught accidentally in deep-sea fisheries, and their slow reproductive rate makes population recovery difficult. Nielsen has warned that removing a single centuries-old shark could affect the population’s future.
An animal that doesn’t reproduce until it’s 100 to 150 years old can’t bounce back from population losses the way faster-breeding species can. Each accidental catch potentially removes an animal that was alive before the Industrial Revolution.
Scientists studying aging, cellular repair and cold-water metabolism are watching this research closely. A shark alive today may have been born before the American Revolution. What its cells and genes reveal about survival over that timespan could reshape understanding of biological aging across species.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
