If you caught a 500 year old shark…
Researchers off the southern coast of Belize were counting fish and tagging some commercial species. They had been throwing out lines 30 miles from the coast in salt water and pulled up something really heavy. They pulled and tugged and when they got the catch close to the boat it looked like a rotten log. It was gray and the skin texture looked like it had been the loser in a fight. They couldn’t believe their eyes because the fish was over 18 feet long, but pretty docile for being caught on a fishing line. What they had reeled in turned out to be a Greenland Shark, which is typically found in the Arctic and can live to be over 500 years old. Unlike the tiger sharks they were after, this particular shark had black, worn-looking skin and pale blue eyes. Devanshi Kasana, a Ph.D. candidate at the Florida International University lab, said the shark looked “really, really old.” When it came to the surface, none of the crew with all of their combined fishing experience had ever seen anything like that.”
According to NOAA these sharks are the longest-living vertebrates on the planet, living possibly more than 500 years, there’s no definite way of determining their age. The reason they live to be so old may be their speed of life, which is slow — very, very slow. Greenland sharks grow approximately one-third of an inch per year and can grow to more than 20 feet in length. Researchers believe the sharks don’t reach sexual maturity until sometime after the first 100 years of their life. (See video below) They love cold water, which is why they’re found in the Arctic. However, they’ve also been discovered thousands of feet beneath the ocean surface. The theory is that the closer the sharks are to the equator, the deeper researchers have to go to find them. The waters of the reef can be as shallow as 25 feet, but steep drop-offs can reach more than 2,000 feet down. “It slopes suddenly and the depth goes really deep really fast,” Kasana said. “We believe the line dragged from a much shallower depth to the drop-off, which is why we ended up catching this individual.” The crew considered tagging it, but they didn’t want to incidentally hurt or kill the shark in the name of science. Instead, the team measured the shark, took notes and a photo, and sent it on its way…very slowly.
Are you in the right ocean?
Not so sure why everyone goes on about genetically engineered food.
I had a lovely leg of salmon the other day.
Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will spend a fortune on gear he will only use once a year.
A local fisherman caught a fish so big that he dislocated his shoulders describing it.
The swordfish has no natural predators to be afraid of.
Except for the penfish, which is thought to be mightier.
October 3rd Birthdays
1969 – Gwen Stefani, 1984 – Tessa Thompson, 1989 – Alicia Vikander, 1974 – Neve Campbell
1941 – Chubby Checker, 1977 – Sean William Scott, 1951 – Dave Winfield, 1963 – Tommy Lee