Whale Sharks And The Atomic Bomb
Very little is known about whale sharks, and scientists had never found a way of determining their ages. But, believe it or not, a series of atomic bomb tests carried out during the Cold War is what helped scientists to determine for the first time the exact age of these giant creatures. But how?
The explosion of the bombs saturated the ocean with an isotope called carbon-14, a radioactive element that is usually used by archaeologists to date ancient objects and bones. The isotope's rate of decay can be easily measured and thus provide age estimates for both artifacts as well as living creatures. This is how they finally discovered that whale sharks can live up to 100 years!