Was interested so I wiki’d it. Here’s a snippet. That’s crazy. From Wikipedia:
Greenland sharks have the longest lifespan of any known vertebrate, estimated to be between 250 and 500 years. They are among the largest extant species of shark, usually growing to between 2.4 and 7 m (7.9 and 23.0 ft) long and weighing between 400 and 1,400 kg (880 and 3,090 lb). They reach sexual maturity at about 150 years of age, and their pups are born alive after an estimated gestation period of 8 to 18 years.
The shark featured in the image is indeed a Greenland shark, a long-lived Arctic species that was the subject of a 2016 study. Throughout their research, scientists at the University of Copenhagen found that such sharks may live upwards of 400 — or even 500 — years.
What's Undetermined
Unknown is whether the shark in the picture is one from the study that was estimated to be 392 years old, give or take 120 years, at the time the findings were published in 2016.
Origin
In August 2020, a widely shared image claiming to depict a 392-year-old shark resurfaced on social media, garnering thousands of shares on both Facebook and Twitter.
This was a variation of a familiar meme, which we identified as “mostly false” in December 2018. We are rating the newer variation as “mixture” because the image that circulated in 2020 was, indeed, a photograph of a Greenland shark. However, we were unable to determine the exact age of the shark in question, though the age of a given Greenland shark can be estimated by its length (more on that later).
Both viral memes originated from a study published in the journal Science in August 2016. In the study, researcher Julius Nielsen, who was then a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen, set out to define the life history of the Greenland shark, scientifically known as Somniosus microcephalus. These deep ocean fish have been described as an “iconic species of the Arctic seas” and remain one of the most enigmatic creatures on Earth (see National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration picture below), mainly due to their unique ability to survive at depths of at least 7,200 feet.
When the research was first announced in 2016, many mainstream media publications picked up the study and declared that the Greenland shark was the longest-lived vertebrate known on the planet. In the years following the publication of the study, various iterations of the photograph’s subject and its age have recirculated in different forms. A reverse-image search found 56 results, dating back to as far as 2018. Following another round of social media virality, Nielsen took to Instagram in December 2017 to address misleading claims related to the age of the shark in question:
Social media are going beserk over old Greenland sharks these days🤔🤔 All of this is just the same story coming to life from August 2016 and please note that we have not found any sharks to be 600 or 500 yr old…. we have ESTIMATED (meaning that it has not been verified) that one shark was AT LEAST 272 yr old or in more detail that this shark was between 272-512 yr old with 95.5% certainty (the later also being an unverified estimate).
....What remains unclear is whether the shark featured in the meme was that same large shark mentioned above, or another one photographed as part of the research. So, while the photograph does, in fact, depict an individual, long-lived Greenland shark, the exact age of the specimen is not made readily clear in the research.
This image is a screenshot from a video Julius Nielsen posted on IG. Per there:
@juniel85
The story behind the story... 🦈 This is the footage of a giant #Greenlandshark of 4.4 m that was caught and released with satellite tags in 2017. Back then, I shared a screen shot from the video which since has been widely shared, reposted and retweetet hundred of times. Often, when this picture has been shown, it is with a caption reading that this is a 400 yr or even 500 yr old Greenland shark. The shark was big yes, but we cant say anything that precise about its age. My guess is that this particular shark was older than 150 yr but it is obviously a guess. Besides, we have previously estimated the Greenland shark to have a lifespan of at least 272 yr, which was obtained from marine radiocarbon dating of the eye lens nucleus. That is an estimate and it needs verfication one day in the future using another independant method. Mean while, a new marine calibration curve (Marine20) was published last month and running that calibration might affect the current estimates. We will see 🤓 #greenlandsharkproject
firey21 on June 17th, 2024 at 15:51 UTC »
Was interested so I wiki’d it. Here’s a snippet. That’s crazy. From Wikipedia:
Greenland sharks have the longest lifespan of any known vertebrate, estimated to be between 250 and 500 years. They are among the largest extant species of shark, usually growing to between 2.4 and 7 m (7.9 and 23.0 ft) long and weighing between 400 and 1,400 kg (880 and 3,090 lb). They reach sexual maturity at about 150 years of age, and their pups are born alive after an estimated gestation period of 8 to 18 years.
Spartan2470 on June 17th, 2024 at 17:22 UTC »
Snopes rates this as "Mixture."
This image is a screenshot from a video Julius Nielsen posted on IG. Per there:
joeben81 on June 17th, 2024 at 18:43 UTC »
Doesn't look a day over 250.