News Animals

Cold War nuclear test residue offers a clue to whale sharks’ ages

These massive fish can live at least 50 years, but probably much longer

Whale shark with diver

Chemical traces of Cold War-era nuclear tests found in whale shark vertebrae offer a new clue about just how long these massive fish live.

Wayne Osborn

By Maria Temming

Radioactive residue from Cold War nuclear tests has given scientists a cipher to decode the ages of whale sharks, written on the animals’ vertebrae.

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) accumulate alternating stripes of opaque and translucent tissue on their vertebrae as they age, similar to the way tree trunks grow rings.