1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Boga Bam here. They may not 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: have their own cult classic movie like the infamous great 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: white shark, but the equally massive greenland shark taxonomic names 5 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: Omniosis microcephalis, holds a pretty impressive record. They're the longest 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: living vertebrate known to science. It's estimated that they can 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: live up to about four hundred years, beating out the 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: former record holder, a species of bohead whale that can 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: live a little over two hundred years. A greenland shark 10 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: alive today could have been swimming in the deep during 11 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: the sixteen hundreds, and despite having been around for well 12 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: what seems like forever, the greenland shark was only recently 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: recognized as the longest living vertebrate because scientists have been 14 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: stumped for centuries about how to determine their age. Other 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: sharks and most other vertebrates have hardened spines that form 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: growth ring similar to what occurs inside a tree, and 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: those can be counted to determine how long any given 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: sharp toothed beast has been roaming the seas, but the 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: greenland shark lacks hard tissue making age measurement nearly impossible, 20 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: that is until the recent intersection of Danish scientists, human cadavers, 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: and a dash of murder mystery. The story starts with 22 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: one Jon Heinemeyer, an expert in radiocarbon dating at our 23 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: House University in Denmark. He didn't specifically have the Greenland 24 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: shark on his radar, but he proved that you really 25 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: can tell a lot about a person by their eyes. 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: His team was studying the crystallians, which are a type 27 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: of protein that remains stable over time, and the carbon 28 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: fourteen levels in the eyes of human cadavers, and since 29 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: the carbon level fluctuates from year to year, every period 30 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: in time has its own carbon fourteen signature, allowing researchers 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: to use radiocarbon dating to determine a body's age using 32 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: the lenses of the eyes. But before the technique helped 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: to age sharks, it found its way to forensics. His 34 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: team got a request from police in Germany to help 35 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: them solve a bizarre murder mystery. The victims had been 36 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: frozen for years, so the scientists were able to use 37 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: this technique on their eye lens is to precisely determine 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: their ages and thus the year of the crime. Then, 39 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: when marine biologist John Flann Stephenson reached out to Hannemeyer 40 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: to see if they could use radiocarbon dating on shark vertebra, 41 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: he learned about the murder case and a new approach. 42 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: Isolated tissue that formed when a shark was very young 43 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: could be radiocarbon dated to give scientists the sharks new 44 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: approximate age. So how does the greenland shark manage to 45 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: live so long? One theory is an extreme cold produces 46 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: anti aging qualities, and lucky for these sharks, they hang 47 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: out in water that hovers around twenty nine degrees fahrenheit 48 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: that's negative one point six celsius. A low metabolism is 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: also thought to be a play, but scientists don't have 50 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: the full answer yet. That is, the studies are currently 51 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: underway to examine the sharks genes, heart, and immune system 52 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: to help solve this age old age puzzle, and there 53 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: may be a bonus. They're hoping to be able to 54 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: use what they find to create immune boosting therapies for 55 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: us humans. Given the greenland sharks need to conserve energy, 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: they creep along at an average pace of just point 57 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: three meters per second or point eight miles per hour, 58 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: giving them the nickname sleeper sharks, but don't discount their 59 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: ability to attack. When truly necessary, they can increase their 60 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: speed in short bursts. The greenland shark can grow to 61 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: be up to twenty four ft or over seven meters 62 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: long and weigh ended up to hundred pounds or about 63 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: twelve kilos, but they don't exactly have a teenage growth spurt. Instead, 64 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: they make an extremely slow, steady climb to their final size, 65 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: only growing by about half an inch or one centimeter 66 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: per year. With that slow growth comes slow sexual maturity. 67 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: They only become able to reproduce once they're around a 68 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years of age, and to add to 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: their quirkiness, these slow giants might not even be able 70 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: to see well. Oh. We spoke by email with Dr 71 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: Stephen E. Campana, Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences at 72 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: the University of Iceland. He said greenland sharks in the 73 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: Arctic often have copapod or small crustacean ectoparasites attached on 74 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: or over their eyes. There's no known advantage to these parasites, 75 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: and indeed it seems likely that these parasites obscure or 76 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: even block the vision of the shark. Even though they 77 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: have a coveted spot at the top of the food chain, 78 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: the greenland shark doesn't always hunt for live prey. When 79 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: they do, they mostly catch seals and fish. But more 80 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: than anything, they seem to enjoy living more of a 81 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: scavenger lifestyle, eating animal carcasses such as polar bear or 82 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: reindeer that may have fallen through the ice. Since the 83 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: greenland shark usually hangs out such deep waters, it's rare 84 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: to see one at times, even for scientists. Campana said, 85 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: there's almost no direct fishing towards greenland sharks. Rather, they 86 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: are usually caught accidentally, as bycatch of fisheries for other 87 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: deep water or cold water marine species. A small number 88 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: of people do in fact hunt the greenland shark for 89 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: their meat, but eating it is a risky endeavor. The 90 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: meat must be dried and specially processed over time to 91 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: remove the t m O A, which is a substance 92 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: that causes heavy intoxication in humans. Anyone who eats the 93 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: unprocessed meat will end up shark drunk with a really 94 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: nasty hangover for a few days, and there haven't been 95 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: any documented attacks on humans, but that may have to 96 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: do with the depth of their living quarters. While their 97 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,799 Speaker 1: true conservation status is unknown, Professor Campana said the fact 98 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: that greenland shark densities remain high in some areas suggests 99 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: the continued catches over the past century have not been 100 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: enough to push the population into a critical decline, although 101 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: they are almost certainly at low abundance overall. Today's episode 102 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: was written by Katie Carmen and produced by Tyler Clang. 103 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other sharp topics, 104 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: visit how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is a 105 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. Or more podcasts in my 106 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 107 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.