A Greenland shark, which is often regarded as the vertebrate species with the longest lifespan on Earth, was found in the warm waters of the Caribbean. When the researchers came upon the odd shark, they were in the process of tagging and temporarily capturing tiger sharks off the coast of Belize. They were astounded to discover the prehistoric Greenland shark when they recovered their catch for research purposes. One of the researchers, Hector Daniel Martinez, said, “It looked very, very old,” highlighting the fact that it lived in the ocean’s depths for its entire life.
Well, it surely does look old and like it has seen too much. Discover the ancient shark’s story below!
Oldest Shark to Ever Exist Roam the Caribbeans
When the researchers returned to the protected area of Glover’s Reef Atoll in Belize to continue their research and monitoring of tiger sharks, they came across something quite shocking and challenging! They discovered that the line they had put had drifted several kilometers from the coral reef and into seas that were as much as 2,000 feet. The ocean and its ecology have only been partially explored, and the finding of this Arctic shark is definitely proof that there is still a lot that is unknown about the ocean and its depths. You know what they say: it’s always more than meets the eye!
Scavengers by nature, Greenland sharks consume everything, whether it be dead or living, including polar bears, whales (wait, what?! ), fish, and seals, among other things. Quite terrifying! Greenland sharks don’t reportedly attain sexual development until they’re at least 134 years old, based on 2016 data.
We suddenly saw a very slow-moving, sluggish creature under the surface of the water; It looked like something that would exist in prehistoric times, said Devanshi Kasana, a biologist and Ph.D. candidate at Florida International University’s Predator Ecology and Conservation lab.
The discovery of a Greenland shark in close proximity to a coral reef off the coast of Belize was surprising but not impossible. These mysterious sharks are most likely found in the deep oceans of the Arctic, although they might also be found in other deep ocean locations, such as the Caribbean.
Tiesha loves to share her passion for everything that’s beautiful in this world. Apart from writing on her beauty blog and running her own beauty channel on Youtube, she also enjoys traveling and photography. Tiesha covers various stories on the website.