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Research Focus: A stranding in Ireland sheds new light on the long, slow, ice-cold life of a deep-sea shark

17 Aug 2026
In April 2026, a dead Greenland shark washed up on the Irish shore – the first ever to strand here (Credit: Ana Sanz/ Irish Whale and Dolphin Group)

Some Greenland sharks alive today may have been contemporaries of Shakespeare. With a scarred heart that beats for centuries and eyesight that doesn't fade, this deep-sea shark defies age-related decline. Jasmine Stavenow Jerremalm, a PhD researcher in marine ecology at University College Cork features in this BBC Future article.

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