# How Long Do Greenland Sharks Live?

> Greenland sharks live for centuries, making them the longest-lived known vertebrates. A landmark radiocarbon study estimated that the largest female in its sample was between 272 and 512 years old. The broad range is central to the result because scientists cannot assign...

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Published: 2026-08-30T14:04:24+00:00
Categories: Explainer, Nature

![An underwater scene featuring a shark gracefully swimming through a kelp forest with fish](https://www.argo.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Greenland_shark_underwater.jpg)

Greenland sharks live for centuries, making them the longest-lived known vertebrates. A landmark radiocarbon study estimated that the largest female in its sample was between 272 and 512 years old. The broad range is central to the result because scientists cannot assign an exact birthday to an animal born before modern records.

NOAA's answer to [Greenland shark lifespan](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/greenland-shark.html) says the species lives at least 250 years and may exceed 500. Later work has examined assumptions behind the highest estimates. The safest conclusion remains extraordinary even under more conservative models: these sharks can survive for multiple human lifetimes.

The species, *Somniosus microcephalus*, inhabits cold North Atlantic and Arctic waters. Slow growth and late maturity make long life biologically plausible, but the same pace leaves populations vulnerable when large adults are caught accidentally.

## Soft skeletons make ordinary aging difficult

Scientists age many fish by counting growth bands in hard structures. Shark vertebrae can sometimes preserve periodic marks, while fin spines help with certain species. Greenland sharks lack useful fin spines and their soft vertebrae do not form a reliable sequence of rings.

Tagging provides growth information but requires an animal to be found again. One historical recapture described in later reviews involved only eight centimeters of growth over 16 years. A few measurements cannot establish the maximum lifespan, yet they reinforce the picture of extremely slow growth.

**Length-based age** is also uncertain. Individuals grow at different rates and old animals may add length very slowly. A growth curve needs data from several sizes before it can translate a five-meter shark into an age range.

The challenge pushed researchers toward tissue that forms early and remains chemically stable. The eye lens contains such a time capsule, protected inside an organ that continues adding layers throughout life.

## Eye-lens proteins preserve an early signal

The central proteins of a vertebrate eye lens form before birth and are metabolically inactive afterward. Their carbon reflects the environment when the tissue was created. Scientists can isolate that **eye-lens nucleus** and measure its radiocarbon content.

Atmospheric nuclear testing during the 1950s and 1960s produced a sharp rise in radiocarbon known as the bomb pulse. Tissue containing the signal must have formed after that change. Younger sharks in the study helped calibrate the method against this dated marker.

For animals born well before the pulse, researchers compare measured carbon with marine radiocarbon curves. The ocean does not carry the same carbon history everywhere and diet can affect the signal reaching a predator. Statistical models combine those measurements with shark length.

NOAA Fisheries now applies related [eye-lens dating methods](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/determining-shark-ages-eye-lenses) to Pacific sleeper sharks. The work shows why conserved lens tissue is valuable for species whose skeletons offer few age markers.

**Radiocarbon dating** produces probability ranges rather than a year printed on a birth certificate. The uncertainty expands for pre-bomb animals, so the full interval should accompany any central estimate.

## The famous 392-year estimate has uncertainty

The 2016 study analyzed 28 female Greenland sharks caught as fisheries bycatch. The largest measured about five meters. Its estimated age was 392 years, with a 95 percent probability interval from 272 to 512 years.

The Science paper identified **extreme longevity** using the eye-lens method and a growth model. News accounts often reduced the result to a 400-year-old shark, losing the uncertainty that the researchers reported.

Subsequent assessments have cautioned that ages before the bomb pulse depend on assumptions about marine carbon and age at length. A NOAA-hosted [sleeper shark review](https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/65736/noaa_65736_DS1.pdf) describes both the original estimate and later modeling that suggested a lifespan near 262 years under revised assumptions.

The disagreement concerns the upper value more than the basic finding. Estimates above two centuries still place Greenland sharks beyond other known vertebrate lifespans. Better calibration and additional specimens can narrow the range without making the original animals newly young.

## Cold water and slow metabolism fit long life

Greenland sharks live in cold water and move slowly. Low temperature reduces biochemical rates in an ectothermic animal, while the species' lifestyle requires less sustained high-speed activity than a tuna's. Researchers consider slow metabolism a plausible contributor to longevity.

The shark's top swimming speed is low, yet it feeds on fish and other prey. Scavenging may contribute and encounters with active prey raise questions about hunting strategy. Longevity should not be reduced to the idea that the animal simply does nothing.

**Slow growth** delays reproduction. The 2016 analysis estimated females may not reach sexual maturity until roughly 156 years old, although that value inherits uncertainty from the age model. A mature female lost to bycatch cannot be replaced quickly.

Deep, cold habitat may reduce some environmental hazards while creating practical barriers to study. Researchers rely on fisheries samples, tagging and occasional observations from remotely operated vehicles. Each method sees a limited part of the life cycle.

NOAA reports encounters down to hundreds of meters and notes dives beyond 2,000 meters. Depth use varies with season and region. A long lifespan allows one shark to experience changing ocean conditions across centuries.

## Longevity changes conservation priorities

A species that matures after a century has little capacity to rebound from sustained adult mortality. Historical fisheries targeted Greenland sharks for liver oil, while modern catches are more often incidental. Bycatch reduction protects reproductive animals that took generations to reach maturity.

**Population recovery** cannot be judged on a short political timeline. Even successful protection may take decades to produce a measurable rise in mature sharks. Managers need life-history estimates to interpret a period with few observed juveniles or adults.

The most accurate lifespan answer includes both evidence and limits. Greenland sharks certainly live for centuries, with strong evidence supporting at least about 250 years. Claims of more than 500 years remain possible at the edge of a broad estimate rather than a verified age for a named individual.

## Longevity changes the conservation calculation

The sharks' cold, deep habitat slows fieldwork too. Researchers use tags to examine movement and depth, but recovering long-term data can be difficult. International collaboration expands coverage across the Arctic and North Atlantic range.

Age estimates begin with a biological structure that forms before birth. Proteins at the center of the eye lens remain metabolically stable, preserving carbon incorporated early in life. Radiocarbon analysis dates that material indirectly by comparing it with known changes in atmospheric carbon.

The method has wide intervals because old marine carbon and calibration history introduce uncertainty. The well-known 392-year estimate for a large female was a central estimate, not a documented birthday. Its reported confidence interval extended across more than two centuries.

## Late maturity makes losses difficult to replace

**A long life does not guarantee resilience.** Greenland sharks appear to mature very late, so a population can lose reproductive adults faster than young animals replace them. Recovery from heavy mortality may take many decades after fishing pressure falls.

Historical fisheries targeted this species for liver oil, while modern animals are caught incidentally. Deep-set lines and other gear encounter sharks across their North Atlantic range. Release practices and catch reporting help estimate the continuing impact.

*Slow growth magnifies uncertainty.* Scientists cannot follow one cohort for centuries. They combine radiocarbon measurements, length data, models and information from tagged animals, with every method carrying assumptions.

Longevity can make an individual shark a record of changing conditions. Chemical signatures in tissues may preserve information about diet or contaminants, although interpretation requires knowing how rapidly each tissue is replaced.

**The responsible answer remains a range.** Evidence supports a lifespan measured in centuries and places the Greenland shark among the longest-lived vertebrates. A precise maximum is not settled and future radiocarbon calibration may shift estimates. Its extraordinary age is well supported even when the most dramatic single number is presented with proper uncertainty.

**Related reading:** [marine snow](https://www.argo.net/what-is-marine-snow/) and [pelagic and benthic zones](https://www.argo.net/pelagic-vs-benthic-zone-what-is-the-difference/).

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