The Greenland Shark, the Longest-Living Vertebrate on Earth (2017)
48 comments
·January 18, 2025lysace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
> The flesh of the Greenland shark is toxic because of the presence of high concentrations of urea and trimethylamine oxide (TMAO).
Evolution can be so clever.
perihelions
Yes, but
- "The meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous when fresh because of its high urea and trimethylamine oxide content. However, when properly processed, it may be consumed safely.[3][4] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hákarl
The reaction quotes are intriguing,
"That's hardcore. That's serious food. You don't want to mess with that. That's not for beginners." · "awful", "like a jellied cube of ammonia" albeit "technically edible" · "reminiscent of "blue cheese but a hundred times stronger" · "like chewing a urine-infested mattress"
harrall
I’ve had it and it doesn’t taste that bad. If you don’t mind blue cheese, it’s not that much worse.
It smells like cleaning fluid from under your sink cabinet though. That’s the main issue.
technothrasher
I've had it as well, and it made me wretch just to smell it. It smelled like ammonia mixed with rotting fish (because that's exactly what it is). I did get a piece down, and you're right, the taste wasn't as bad. But yeah... all set with that now.
J_McQuade
I have also had it and it tastes like drain cleaner with the texture of angry spam. Only a third of a bottle of Brennivin made the whole experience even remotely enjoyable.
divbzero
As far as I can tell, the descriptions in your first and second paragraphs are in stark conflict.
RajT88
I do love me some cheeses with some stank.
Your comment has made me want to try it. In your telling, it is probably a similar level of challenge as Natto:
pyuser583
What if you love blue cheese. I freaking love blue cheese.
potato3732842
Somewhere there's a video of some Youtubers who are relevant in another niche eating that as part of a trip to Iceland. The Icelandic guy hosting them isn't a fan but eats it. The second guy tries it and hates it. The guy who was a connoisseur of french stuff says "it's like a good stinky french cheese" and asks for more.
underlipton
Natto/Hakarl/Haggis face-off.
didgeoridoo
Haggis isn’t bad if nobody tells you what’s in it. I thought it was some kind of Scottish Hamburger Helper.
kreyenborgi
Surströmming: hold my beer
lysace
Ah yes, that most well-known Icelandic innovation...
bdhcuidbebe
Toxic perhaps, but it didnt stop the icelanders.
GrantMoyer
I find it sad that these sharks which naturally live so long, who have no recorded attacks on humans, and whose flesh is toxic to humans, are still killed and eaten by humans.
michaelscott
To be fair, Greenlanders didn't have a lot of choice back then. You don't take extensive time to process food that's naturally toxic unless you really have to
froginspector
I have eaten some before they are not that bad even after they soak it in lye
tromp
> With the help of a mathematical model that linked size with age, they estimated that one sixteen-foot female was at least two hundred and seventy-two years old, and possibly as much as five hundred and twelve years old. Because it is difficult to establish background carbon-14 levels in the ocean, and because Nielsen and his colleagues didn’t know which part of the ocean the sharks had been born in, the figure was inexact. Still, it firmly established Greenland sharks as the longest-living vertebrates on Earth. In theory, the biggest ones could be nearly six centuries old.
Mistletoe
>A Greenland shark's heart beats once every 10 seconds (6 times per minute).
More fuel for the fire for the theory that we all get about the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime. Well, I'm off to do my weekly long run to lower my resting heart rate during the week.
fuzztester
I read long back somewhere that bjorn borg had a resting heart rate or pulse rate (I don't know if the two are the same) of 37 or 39.
I think it was in a reader's digest issue.
yonaguska
Good news- I still have a much lower resting heart rate from running years ago- I haven't run in about 12 years due to compounding injuries- but the benefits are still there. It's finally starting to go up to normal, but it used to freak nurses and doctors when they'd measure it.
Mistletoe
I feel like gains from running stay with you a long time also. Once I was a runner, it was so much easier to go back to running five miles easily if I ever quit and went back to it. I think there is some body and muscle memory that remains.
null
zabzonk
Can you imagine what a boring existence they must have? Live forever, and do almost nothing.
rbanffy
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
alex1138
I consider that book/trilogy/fiveology to be canon and nothing can convince me otherwise
apercu
You're right, they should totally die much earlier from stress-related illnesses like the rest of us!
BurningFrog
You can also think of it as calm bliss.
fuzztester
wu wei, nirvana, shanti, samadhi, fana, ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(Buddhism)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fana_(Sufism)
i gave two links, you guys can google the others.
liveoneggs
If you like to imagine yourself as a fish you could do much worse than these guys! The male anglerfish comes to mind..
fuzztester
different strokes for boring folks - like you.
null
A buddy of mine did an episode of his YouTube show about diving with Greenland Sharks in the mouth of the St Lawrence river, and he got some nice footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kS89k6DjnM