Amazingly, during their research, they found a shark that had been navigating these icy waters since 1627.
But how did they manage to determine the age of such an ancient creature?
Julius Nielsen, the lead author of the study and a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, commented:
“We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were.”
Speaking to the BBC, Nielsen said: “But the Greenland shark is a very, very soft shark – it has no hard body parts where growth layers are deposited. So it was believed that the age could not be investigated.”
Even though many experts thought it could never be done, the research team discovered an innovative way to solve the age mystery of the Greenland shark.
Nielsen further added: “Even with the lowest part of this uncertainty, 272 years, even if that is the maximum age, it should still be considered the longest-living vertebrate,”
Another user added: “Bro looks tired af,”, while a third chimed in with: “Can’t believe I feel bad for a shark. Imagine humans would not die we would go insane lol.”
