Wildlife

Long-Lived Greenland Sharks

Greenland sharks are slow. They swim through the cold waters of the Arctic and the North Atlantic at a sluggish pace that has earned them the nickname "sleeper sharks." Seal parts have been found in their bellies, but the sharks move so slowly that experts have suggested that the seals must have been asleep or already dead when the sharks ate them.

They're also not too swift when it comes to growing, eking out a mere 0.4 inches (1 centimetre) per year, studies have found. Researchers suspected that Greenland sharks' exceptionally slow growth meant that they lived a long time, but they had no idea just how long that might be. That is, until now.

A new study provides the first estimates for Greenland shark longevity, and shows that these slowpokes of the sea stick around a very long time — at least 272 years, and perhaps as long as 390 years on average, making them longer-lived than any other vertebrate in the world.

Bee Decline

Honeybee populations around the world plunged by nearly 12 percent on average last year, sparking further concerns for the future of the important pollinators.

Researchers from the Swiss honeybee research association COLOSS, at the University of Bern, found that the losses were due to undiscovered problems involving the hives’ queens as well as various harsh winter conditions.