A shark that can live for centuries and holds surprising secrets to keeping eyes healthy for a lifetime is at the centre of an unusual dispute in Greenland. Earlier this year, The Avannaata municipality, of which Ilulissat is the administrative seat, approved a controversial plan to cull 1,000 sharks, offering 300 krone for every heart of a Greenland shark, according to a report in The Guardian. The plan was eventually dropped after Greenland’s government questioned whether it was legal, per The Guardian, but a future cull hasn’t been ruled out.
The proposal has brought attention to Greenland sharks, one of the least understood species on the planet. According to the Shark Trust, it is not only the world’s slowest shark, it is the second-largest carnivorous species, after the white shark. Greenland sharks reach about six to seven metres in length, they can live for more than 400 years. For a long time they were thought to be completely blind, although scientists have recently discovered this may not be true.
