The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), measuring up to 23 feet (seven meters) long and capable of living for over 400 years, lives in the North Atlantic like a living time capsule, having seen centuries of change from the early days of industrialization to today’s warming Arctic.
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Now a new study from Kulusuk, a small island in southeastern Greenland, offers a look at how pollutants have seeped into the farthest corners of the planet and into the tissues one of its most mysterious predator.
A team of researchers analyzed tissue samples from two Greenland sharks, a male and a female, collected during a diving expedition in 2024.
Using a highly sensitive technique called Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, also known as ICP-MS, they examined 11 trace elements.
The findings were striking: the sharks’ skin contained the highest concentrations of pollutants, including arsenic and zinc, suggesting that direct environmental exposure through seawater may be more significant than previously thought.
