Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Nature & Environment > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Nature & Environment

Atom bombs offer clues to age of whale sharks

By T.K. Randall
April 12, 2020 · Comment icon 2 comments

Whale sharks can potentially live for over 100 years. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Abe Khao Lak
Scientists have found a way to determine how old whale sharks are using the fallout from atomic bomb testing.
Measuring up to 62ft in length, these giants of the deep are regarded to be the largest living fish on Earth as well as the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate.

Given their slow rate of growth and extensive lifespan however, determining exactly how long whale sharks live for has long proven a challenge, but now scientists studying these gentle giants have found a way to effectively date a whale shark by measuring the amount of carbon-14 in its vertebrae.

This naturally occurring radioactive element is also produced by nuclear explosions, meaning that by comparing the sharks' carbon-14 levels with data regarding atomic bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s, it was possible to come up with a way to determine the age of any given individual.
"These elevated levels of carbon-14 first saturated the atmosphere, then oceans and moved through food webs into animals, producing elevated levels in structures such as the vertebrae of whale sharks," said lead study author Joyce Ong of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

By applying this technique to the remains of several long-dead whale sharks, the researchers found one shark that was 50 years old, however it is likely that they can live much longer than that.

"We still can't say for certain if these sharks live to be 100 years old," said study co-author Mark Meekan from the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Perth.

"But it now seems much more likely given that our largest shark was 50 years old at 10 meters (33 feet) in length and it is well documented that these sharks can get almost double this size, to around 18 meters (59 feet) in length."

Source: Reuters | Comments (2)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by zygote 4 years ago
The Greenland shark eh? Incredible creatures. I was reading they can have a potential lifespan of up to 500 years. 500 years!! 
Comment icon #2 Posted by Aardvark-DK 4 years ago
Was about to mention the Greenland shark aswell. it is has such a slow metabolism, that it should be able to live for hundreds of years...


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles