How Long Can a Greenland Shark Live?

Long before factories, locomotives and industrial cities existed in the form we recognise today, some Greenland sharks may already have been swimming through the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Research suggests this species can survive for several centuries, placing it among the longest-lived vertebrates known to science.

How long can a Greenland shark live?

Scientific estimates indicate that the Greenland shark, known as Somniosus microcephalus, can readily live beyond 200 years. A study published in 2016 calculated that one large female examined may have been about 392 years old, although that figure carries a substantial margin of uncertainty.

In practical terms, some exceptionally old individuals alive today may have been born in a very different world. Depending on their true age, certain sharks could predate the rise of the Industrial Revolution, having quietly endured centuries of human change.

How did scientists establish such an extraordinary age?

Working out the age of these animals is challenging because they lack some of the structures commonly used to count annual growth in other fish. Instead, researchers used radiocarbon dating on proteins in the eye lens, tissues created during the animal’s development and retained throughout its life.

This method does not provide an exact birth date, but it can produce age estimates. The findings revealed that the largest specimens were remarkably old, while also indicating that the species may take more than a century to reach sexual maturity-an exceptional timescale even for slow-growing animals.

Why does the Greenland shark age so slowly?

The Greenland shark mainly inhabits cold, deep water, where its metabolism is likely to operate slowly. It also grows at an exceptionally modest rate, estimated at roughly one centimetre each year, helping to explain how a large individual may embody centuries of history.

• It lives in the intensely cold waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic.
• It grows very slowly throughout its life.
• It may need more than a century to become sexually mature.
• Its pace of life is linked to a reduced metabolism and deep-water habitats.

Scientists are still examining the precise mechanisms behind such exceptional longevity. Low body temperature, a slow metabolism and potential cellular characteristics may all play a role, but many questions about the species remain unanswered. This is exactly why its ageing attracts interest far beyond marine biology.

Watch the video shared by the YouTube channel Mistérios Universais about the world’s oldest vertebrate.

How can it survive for so many centuries?

Living for hundreds of years in the ocean means coping with climate shifts, changing food supplies, disease, predators and disruption caused by human activity. The Greenland shark appears to meet these pressures through a low-energy lifestyle, slow movements and adaptation to an environment in which few species can persist.

Its long lifespan also makes it vulnerable. Because the animal grows and reproduces slowly, losses of adult sharks can take an extremely long time to replace. A shark caught today may represent hundreds of years of growth, whereas replenishing that individual within the population could require many decades.

One Greenland shark can hold centuries of history

Considering the age of a Greenland shark changes how we view time. An animal now moving through deep water may have lived while entire generations were born and died, technologies reshaped societies, and humanity profoundly changed the oceans-all without it leaving its freezing habitat.

That possibility makes conserving the species even more urgent. Protecting such an ancient shark means safeguarding a life that has endured for centuries. Learning about these silent giants is also a powerful reminder that some of Earth’s stories remain alive, swimming slowly beneath waters we rarely see.