Featured Image Credit: Getty
By: Sarah Sharkey
So how long do sharks really live? In the past, researchers have aged sharks by slicing through their spines and counting the bands inside. Similar to the way that researchers study tree ages via counting the rings.
Apparently, this method is not very effective in certain species though. Sand tiger sharks were thought to live about two decades but it turns out they can survive for four decades. Another example is the porbeagle shark of New Zealand, which has been under-aged in the past by about 22 years.
The misidentification of a sharkâs age is actually a huge problem. Fishery management of sharks and decisions about conservation factor in the ages of the sharks; if the ages are wrong, then the management strategy is probably not perfect. The wrong age can affect how many animals should be allowed to be caught. The wrong age will also affect the understanding of the life history of a species which is extremely important when attempting to work out a conservation plan.
The reason that shark vertebrae are not extremely accurate is that when a shark stops growing, its vertebrae may too. Unlike a tree, which adds rings to its trunk every single growing season. The development of new aging techniques is still in progress and will be an important part of shark conservation and management in the future.
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