Rare goblin shark filmed alive in the deep Pacific for the first time

Scientists have recorded a goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, alive in its natural deep-sea habitat for the first time, using two rare sightings thousands of kilometers apart in the central Pacific. The breakthrough was published in the Journal of Fish Biology and led by Aaron Judd, a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The first sighting came from archival footage gathered in 2019 during an Ocean Exploration Trust expedition near Jarvis Island. A remotely operated vehicle captured an unidentified shark, which was only later recognized as a goblin shark because of its long, distinctive snout. The second, more recent encounter happened in 2024 during an Inkfish expedition in the Tonga Trench, where a seafloor camera recorded about 20 seconds of footage as part of a 50-day continuous filming effort.

Beyond confirming the species alive in the wild, the observations also expand what scientists know about its range. One shark was seen about 700 meters deeper than the species' previous known maximum depth, setting a new depth record for the Lamniformes order, which includes great white sharks, mako sharks and sand tiger sharks.

Fewer than 250 goblin sharks have ever been documented worldwide, mostly near Japan, Australia and the U.S. West Coast. The new records extend both the geographic and depth range of the species into the central Pacific, and researchers say that matters for conservation planning because it could affect regional protection lists and marine management policy. They also provide a rare look at a living goblin shark in an environment that remains poorly understood.