6 Facts About Greenland Shark

Longest living vertebrate
The Greenland shark is the longest living vertebrate, can live over 400 years, and the average age of them is 270 years old. Greenland sharks grow only one centimeter per year which affects their longevity and sexual maturity acquire aged about 150 years.

Largest Greenland shark
The average size of this shark is 2.44 to 4.73 m whereby females are slightly larger. It is bigger than the better known white shark. The maximum recorded size of this shark is 6.4 m, which was caught near the Isle of May in Scotland in January 1895 and weighed 1020 kg. Somewhere states and length of 7.3 meters, although some scientists believe this claim exaggerated. The growth of these fish has slowed due to low temperature environment in which live.

They can kill polar bears
In the stomachs of some specimens were found and quite large pieces of deer, horses and even polar bears which indicates considerable appetite of the shark. These sharks, like most other sharks, have a wide menu and not particularly picky and gladly attack the small sharks and even their own kind (cannibalism).

Drunk “shark disease”
Although the meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous when eaten fresh, can be consumed if dry. Fresh meat contains a high concentration of urea and trimethylamine oxide in the body which is broken down into trimethylamine. Trimethylamine causes effects similar to extreme intoxication. Therefore, the inhabitants of Greenland for drunk person say that he has a “shark disease”.

Shark at a depth of 2200 m
In 1988 unmanned submarines noticed a 6 m long female of this soecies at a depth of 2200 m, which is 1000 m deeper than the maximum considered the depth at which these species occur.

Liver oil
The native population of ancient times used the skin and teeth of sharks for their needs. It has long been fished for the precious liver oil because it have been claimed to be resistant to cancer.