{"id":50866,"date":"2026-04-14T22:49:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=50866"},"modified":"2026-04-14T22:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:49:33","slug":"rare-shark-that-can-live-for-a-shocking-500-washes-up-on-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=50866","title":{"rendered":"Rare shark that can live for a shocking 500 washes up on beach:"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>It\u2019s the tale of the old man-eater and the sea.<\/p>\n<p>Beachcombers in Ireland were taken aback after stumbling across the carcass of an ancient Greenland shark \u2014 a massive predator that can live for 500 years.<\/p>\n<p>Hammad Chaudhry and James Winters O\u2019Donnell had been strolling along the shore in Finisklin, County Sligo, when they happened upon the ferocious-looking flotsam, marking the first time the species had been stranded in the Emerald Isle, Jam Press reported.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The beached Greenland Shark (above) was estimated to be about 150 years old. <span class=\"credit\">Jam Press\/@irishwhaleanddolphingroup<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Initially believed to be a dead basking shark, the nearly 9\u00bd-foot fish was reported to the Irish Whale &amp; Dolphin Group. They confirmed the corpse belonged to a Greenland Shark, calling it a \u201cvery rare and interesting stranding,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/regional\/2026\/0414\/1568235-greenland-shark-washes-up-on-irish-coast-for-first-time\/#:~:text=A%20very%20rare%20shark%20that,species%20on%20the%20Irish%20coast.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">local media reported.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The specimen has since been collected by the Natural History Museum for further examination.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>This particular specimen was believed to be 150 years old, with specialists suspecting that, based on its \u201cvery developed claspers,\u201d it was close to maturity before becoming stranded.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cThe Greenland\u00a0Shark\u00a0is the longest living vertebrate in the world,\u201d a rep with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group explained. <span class=\"credit\">Jam Press\/@irishwhaleanddolphingroup<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite living longer than any recorded human, this was still just a young pup by species standards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Greenland\u00a0Shark\u00a0is the longest living vertebrate in the world with a life span of several centuries; the oldest recorded specimen was over half a millennium in age,\u201d according to a spokesperson for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.<\/p>\n<p>One of the world\u2019s largest sharks, this massive sea beast can grow to be over 20 feet long \u2014 nearly the length of a U-Haul truck.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The shark is examined by personnel with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. <span class=\"credit\">Jam Press\/@irishwhaleanddolphingroup<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>While certainly tragic, the stranding has perhaps provided a unique opportunity to glean more insight into the elusive beast, which resides some 7,000 feet down in the frigid waters off the Arctic and North Atlantic. <\/p>\n<p>Characterized by its heavy-set body and short, rounded head with small eyes, the Greenland Shark preys on a variety of critters, including char, wolf eels, small sharks, and on occasion, seals and porpoises, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu\/discover-fish\/species-profiles\/greenland-shark\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to the Florida Museum.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, they don\u2019t pose a threat to people, mainly because their environment is too cold for human swimmers.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the inverse isn\u2019t true. <\/p>\n<p>Although their flesh is poisonous when fresh, it can be eaten after being<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/foods\/hakarl-shark-iceland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> fermented underground <\/a>and dried. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, rotted basking shark, dubbed Hakarl, is a delicacy in Iceland, where it\u2019s both prized and reviled for its pungent, ammonia-rich flesh that has been compared to everything from urine to blue cheese.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/14\/science\/rare-shark-that-can-live-for-a-shocking-500-washes-up-on-beach\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s the tale of the old man-eater and the sea. Beachcombers in Ireland were taken aback after stumbling across the carcass of an ancient Greenland shark&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}