Activist Neil Robinson carries 20-lb lobster George onto the rocks
in Kennebunkport, Maine.
A New York restaurant was lucky enough to offer the most mature crustacean
ever caught on their menu.
At a massive 20lbs and born in 1869 - the same year as leading men, such as
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French painter Henri Matisse,
giant lobster George was picked up from the icy waters of the Atlantic.
Manager of City Crab and Seafood restaurant, who bought George for $100 (£68)
said that a lobsters age can be estimated by weight, with weight increasing by
around a pound for every seven to ten years of life. Fortunately for George,
after animal rights organisation PETA received a tip-off from punters about the tiny tank
it had to live in, PETA managed to persuade the Park Avenue eatery to release
George back into the wild.
Geoduck: 160-years-old Recognised as a large edible saltwater clam with a six-inch-long shell
and a neck that extends up to about four feet, geoducks (pronounced gooey ducks)
are a native species of the Pacific Northwest of the US
and coastal areas of British Columbia, Canada.
The geoduck market is predominantly based in Asia with an expanding one in the US
as the American sushi industry has sparked a rise in domestic demand for the odd-looking
seafood delicacy. Burrowed in deep muddy waters, the oldest living
geoduck was recorded to be 160-years-old, but on average they live between 140 and 160
when not hunted by predators or eaten by humans.
According to scientists, a geoduck's longevity is the result of low wear and tear
as they dont have to do much in order to survive.
Dubbed, the old men of the sea by a US reporter, bowhead whales are the oldest mammals
on Earth living on average between 100-200 years.
One individual whale is documented to have lived to the ripe old age of 211.
By tracking changes in amino acids in the lenses of their eyes, scientists are able to
determine the approximate ages of bowheads.
Biologist Craig George found the key to their long existence.
He said: The bowhead's tough environment - cold water without abundant food available
forces it to maintain a great body mass, an effective system for fat storage and an efficient
mechanism to keep warm.
The stress of living in arctic waters may nurture the whale's pattern of slow growth
and long life.†In the past, bowheads have been hunted to near extinction.
Koi are a domesticated kind of the common carp kept for decoration in artificial rock pools
and ponds, there are types which are known to age to more than 200 years.
One of the longest living vertebrate ever recorded, Hanako translated into English as
Flower Maid is proof that women do live longer than men.
The 5lb female fish from Japan died at the age of 226 in 1977. Born in 1751, 25 years
before American independence, her old age could be accounted for by removing one of her
scales and examining it extensively, similar to counting rings of a tree.
Tortoises: 255-years-old
A zookeeper tends to Addwaita, a giant Aldabra tortoise,
at the Alipore Zoological Garden in Calcutta, India.
A tortoises long life span has been linked to the reptiles slow metabolic rate.
Experts reckon as a general rule, animals with a high metabolic rate die early,
and those that burn energy more slowly can live on for decades.
Reports in the media are frequently claiming that the worlds oldest tortoise has died
take Harriet and TuI Malila for example, who died at 175 and 188-years-old respectively.
But, Addwaita, a tortoise that lived in Bengal is estimated to have been around 255 when it died,
making it just a toddler around the time of the American Revolution.
Its age was verified by a technique called carbon dating, confirming Addwaita as one of the
oldest creatures of modern times.
His long life ended when his shell cracked and a wound developed some months
before his death from liver failure in March five-years-ago.
George the lobster: 140-years-old
Bowhead whale: 211-years-old
Koi fish: 226-years-old
Quahog: 410-years-old
Antarctic sponge: 1550-years-old
Turriptosis Nutricula: Immortal
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