Greenland Shark

Greenland Shark battle analysis

The Greenland shark lives slowly. It cruises through near-freezing water at about a third of a metre per second, its tail sweeping once every several seconds, and it grows extremely slowly. Radiocarbon trapped in its eye lenses shows that some individuals are well over two centuries old, and the species may not breed until it is around 150.

It is still a real predator. Large Greenland sharks eat seals, and their jaws are made for it: thin upper teeth pin the prey while a row of interlocking lower teeth works like a blade as the shark rolls its head. Since it could never chase down an alert seal, scientists think it approaches resting or sleeping animals so slowly and quietly that they never wake. Its eyes, though often colonized by parasites, contain a rod-only retina that still works in near-darkness.

In a battle, the Greenland shark is a slow heavyweight with a dangerous bite and almost no mobility. Against a fast predator such as an orca or great white it cannot dodge, chase or flee, so it must rely on mass and toughness. Against anything that blunders into its jaws in cold, dark water, that rolling bite can do serious damage.

Habitat & range

Greenland sharks live in the cold North Atlantic and Arctic, from the surface in the far north to more than 2,000 m deep further south. They are usually found in near-freezing water and are commonest at several hundred metres depth.

Diet & hunting

They are generalist predators and scavengers. Small sharks mainly eat squid; larger sharks mainly eat seals and fish. They also scavenge whale carcasses and the remains of land animals, including polar bears and reindeer, that end up in the sea. They are among the largest predators in Arctic seas.

Social life

Solitary. Individuals gather at carcasses and baited sites but are not known to form groups.

Conservation

The Greenland shark is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2020 assessment, raised from Near Threatened). The main threat is bycatch in Arctic and North Atlantic fisheries; with maturity at about 150 years, populations recover extremely slowly. The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization adopted protections in 2022.

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