Jonathan – a Seychelles giant tortoise living on the island of Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean – is estimated to be 193 year of age as of 2026, making him the oldest known living land animal; but Jonathan is a youngster when compared with the typical Greenland shark.
The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is one of the most extraordinary – and enigmatic – creatures in the ocean. A member of the Somniosidae family, often called sleeper sharks because of their slow movements, it inhabits the frigid waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans. Its range extends from deep Arctic seas near Greenland and Canada down toward temperate waters, occasionally as far south as the waters off Europe and the eastern United States.
As mentioned, what truly sets the Greenland shark apart is its remarkable longevity. It holds the record for the longest-living vertebrate known to science. Radiocarbon dating of proteins in the eye lenses of these sharks suggests that they typically reach the age of 250 and can live for up to 500 years. This extreme lifespan is linked to an exceptionally slow metabolism and growth rate – just about a centimetre per year – which also means they grow and mature extremely slowly. Females may not reach sexual maturity until around 100–150 years of age.
Due to its slow growth, late maturity and susceptibility to bycatch and historical overfishing, the Greenland shark is currently listed as “vulnerable”, meaning that population recovery from depletion would take centuries rather than decades.
In terms of size and appearance, Greenland sharks are among the largest shark species alive today. Adults typically range from about 2.4–4.3 metres (8–14 feet) in length, with the largest confirmed individuals reaching around 6.4 metres (21 feet) and potentially heavier than a tonne. They have thick, bulky bodies with a short rounded snout, small fins and eyes and a mottled grey-brown coloration that makes them look somewhat ungainly compared with faster sharks like the great white.
Their diet is equally wide-ranging. These sharks are opportunistic apex predators and scavengers that will eat whatever is available: fish such as cod, skates and eels, crustaceans, squid, seabirds, seals and even carrion from larger dead animals like reindeer or horses found washed up in the sea.
The flesh of the shark is toxic to humans and most animals if eaten raw because of high concentrations of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), but in some cultures – particularly Iceland – it’s fermented and prepared into a traditional dish called hákarl. See Strange Foods [RR6:73]. It’s a challenging dish. Anthony Bourdain famously called it “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing” he’d ever eaten.
It doesn’t help that they flesh has a urine-like smell – which is why the Igloolik Inuit people from the Canadian Eastern Arctic believed that the shark lives within the urine pot of Sedna, goddess of the sea, with its flesh acting as a helping spirit to shamans.
Story Idea: Brian Mooney
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References
wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
britannica.com/animal/Greenland-shark
Images
1. A Greenland shark under the ice in Lancaster Sound near Canada's Baffin Island. Photo credit: WaterFrame/Alamy
2. Illustration of a Greenland Shark, from A history of the fishes of the British Islands, 1868 via Biodiversity Heritage Library
3. Greenland shark. Photo credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
4. Greenland shark habitat
5. Animal lifespans. Credit: Encyclopedia Brittanica
6. Pulling a 4 metre female Greenland Shark onto the sea ice. Photo credit: S. Dennard
7. Hákarl (Icelandic for shark) meat is a food from Iceland. Photo taken near Bjarnahöfn in 2005.
8. Sedna sculpture held in the National Museum of Finland
