Greenland shark is world’s laziest shark, over 7 meters long.

The Greenland shark is large and slow-moving. It feeds on agile animals and can live up to 500 years. These are many reasons for its long life. Poor athletic ability, low temperature environment, not being picky about food, slow development, strong immunity and strong defense ability. It was once endangered due to overfishing, but now its population has been preserved due to increased environmental awareness.

The Greenland shark is the laziest shark in the world. They generally live in the deep sea below 1,200 meters. They are huge in size. When they are adults, their body length can reach 7 meters and their weight can reach 2,000 kilograms. They are veritable “deep-sea monsters.”

This shark is known for its slow movements, but its food is agile animals such as seals, turbot, and sometimes even polar bears on the ice. It can be called a “big foodie” in the ocean.

Although they eat a lot, their growth rate is very slow, only about 1-2 cm per year , and their lifespan is very long, up to over 500 years, making them truly “centenarians”.

Why do Greenland sharks live so long?

1. Poor athletic ability and slow heart rate

The Greenland shark is the “laziest” shark in the ocean. They love to sleep and don’t like to exercise. They have very poor agility and flexibility. All the power for swimming comes from their tail, so their speed is extremely slow.

With a swimming speed of only a pitiful 0.34 meters per second, it is the slowest shark. In comparison, their “cousins” the great white shark can reach a speed of 48 kilometers per hour, and the porbeagle shark can reach a speed of 65 kilometers per hour, which is a huge gap.

However, this speed also makes the Greenland shark’s heartbeat extremely slow, about 5 beats per minute , which can minimize the body’s energy consumption, so its lifespan is extremely long.

2. Living in a low temperature environment all year round, slow metabolism

As a deep-sea animal, the Greenland shark lives in an extremely cold and monotonous environment. In order to adapt to such a cold environment, their body temperature must be kept consistent with the temperature of the sea water. Over time, their physiological characteristics have undergone serious changes.

For example, the metabolic rate becomes abnormally slow, which causes the aging rate of cells to slow down, and the lifespan is greatly extended. Therefore, the lifespan of the Greenland shark can reach more than ten times that of other sharks.

Not only that, the low temperature environment can also activate the anti-aging genes in sharks and kill various bacteria in the organisms, prolonging their lifespan and allowing them to grow healthily.

3. Good appetite, not picky about food, can grow freely

The Greenland shark is the biggest eater among sharks and eats almost everything. It can be said that it accepts nothing . When it is extremely hungry , it will even eat carrion and its own kind. Some people have even found the carcasses of polar bears and reindeer in their stomachs.

Such an ability to eat allows the Greenland shark to grow freely and live longer . At this point, some people may ask, how do Greenland sharks hunt so slowly? The reason is mainly due to their eyes.

There is a very strange copepod parasitic in their eyes, which will eat the cornea of ​​the Greenland shark and cause partial blindness, but these creatures also emit a white light, which is very attractive to marine life, so the Greenland shark only needs to open its mouth to let the prey come to the door automatically.

4. Slow physical development and strong immune ability

Although the Greenland shark can live up to 500 years, its body develops extremely slowly. It takes at least 156 years for it to fully mature and be able to mate and reproduce. This means it will take at least a century and a half for them to produce offspring.

Such a long maturation period makes the Greenland shark very calm. It does not have the irritability during the mating period and avoids fighting with its own kind to a great extent. Therefore, it can maintain a slow lifestyle and will not die.

It is worth mentioning that the Greenland shark has no bone marrow, but its immunity is surprisingly good and the probability of getting sick is extremely low, which greatly extends its lifespan. This is a phenomenon that has never been found in primates.

5. Strong defense ability and few natural enemies

The skin of the Greenland shark is very thick and tough, just like ancient leather armor , and there is a thick layer of fat under the skin. It has excellent defensive capabilities, and even a great white shark cannot break through its defense in a short time.

Moreover, the Greenland shark has very few natural enemies. Apart from killer whales and humans, there are almost no animals that can threaten them . Therefore, without any pressure to survive, they will grow bigger and bigger until they die naturally.

The most important thing is that the Greenland shark contains an extremely deadly neurotoxin, which is extremely toxic and many animals are very afraid of it. However, their livers do not contain toxins, so killer whales can swallow them with confidence.

How strong is the Greenland shark?

1. The Greenland Shark is large and powerful

The Greenland shark is comparable to the great white shark in length and is almost as strong, but it is no match for the great white shark because it is too slow. However, with their huge size, they can still bully some small sharks.

When food is scarce, Greenland sharks will ambush seals. They will hide under the ice and wait for the seals to approach before launching a surprise attack. They will also tear the seals into spirals, which is very brutal.

2. The Greenland Shark is extremely lethal

Sharks are predators in the ocean second only to whales. They are ferocious, bloodthirsty, powerful , and have extremely terrifying bite force, so they are called “wolves of the sea”, and the Greenland shark is the best among them.

Their teeth are extremely sharp and can crush the body of a seal with one bite. Their mouths are also very huge , and their bite force is second only to that of the great white shark. It can be said that except for a few individual creatures, other marine creatures are no match for them.

Current Status of Greenland Sharks

Historically, Greenland sharks have been an important fishing target in Northern Europe because their livers are very fat and are the main source of cod liver oil. At their peak, the annual catch was close to 30,000.

Coupled with their long growth cycle and extremely poor reproductive capacity, their numbers have become increasingly smaller, and they even became an endangered species at one point . Fortunately, people’s environmental awareness has gradually increased in recent years, which has prevented the Greenland shark population from completely dying out.

In summary:

The reason why the Greenland shark can live for 500 years is the result of long-term evolution and natural selection to adapt to the environment. Although it looks “lazy”, it also gains a long lifespan, which is far beyond the reach of ordinary animals.