Scientists have captured unprecedented footage of live goblin sharks in their natural deep-sea environment, marking a major breakthrough in understanding these elusive creatures. This historic observation, led by researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, offers a rare glimpse into the lives of one of the ocean's most mysterious sharks without disturbing them.
Previously, any sightings of live goblin sharks were accidental, occurring only after they were inadvertently caught by fishing gear and brought to the surface, where they rarely survived. The new research, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, details two healthy goblin sharks observed thriving in the wild. One was spotted near a seamount close to Jarvis Island, and the other was recorded along the Tonga Trench.
Often dubbed "living fossils," goblin sharks represent the last surviving members of a shark family dating back approximately 125 million years. These recent encounters not only expand our knowledge of the species' geographic distribution but also reveal they inhabit greater depths than previously known.
"Seeing the most iconic of all the deep-sea sharks alive and looking healthy in its natural habitat is a unique honor," stated Aaron Judah, the study's lead author and a doctoral candidate at UH Mānoa. "I was also very surprised about how deep this species was found. The observation from the slope of the Tonga Trench is nearly 700 meters deeper than this species was known to live."
These discoveries significantly broaden the known range of goblin sharks, which were previously documented only in limited areas off the western United States, Australia, and Japan, as well as parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The two new sightings in the Central Pacific are particularly impactful.
The first sighting emerged from archived footage from a 2019 expedition by the Ocean Exploration Trust. After reviewing recordings from the remotely operated vehicle Hercules, Judah confirmed a goblin shark had been captured on video near Jarvis Island. The second encounter occurred in 2024 during an expedition to the Tonga Trench, where a baited camera mounted on a lander captured footage of another goblin shark swimming freely.
These findings underscore the critical importance of traditional natural history research, especially in poorly understood deep-ocean environments. "New discoveries like this demonstrate that there is still so much to explore in our deep ocean home," Judah emphasized. "Given the newly-expanded geographic range of the goblin shark, this species can be included in regional management and a nation’s biodiversity list, whereas, beforehand we didn’t know it was even there!"
