{"id":236030,"date":"2026-06-15T14:22:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=236030"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:22:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:22:47","slug":"goblin-shark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/15\/goblin-shark\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare, deep-sea goblin shark observed in natural habitat"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Goblin shark near Jarvis Island in 2019 (Photo credit: Ocean Exploration Trust, Nautilus Live.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first published live observations<\/a> of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni<\/em>) in its natural deep ocean habitat were reported by a University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Mānoa-led<\/span> team of oceanographers. In the past, goblin sharks were only filmed and reported alive after being hooked on a fishing line and hauled to the surface, where divers could observe them and where they soon died. The study documents two live observations of one of the most elusive but iconic sharks on the planet—one at a seamount near Jarvis Island and another on the slope of the Tonga Trench.<\/p>\n

Goblin sharks are sometimes referred to as “living fossils,” as they are the only living representative of their family, a lineage of sharks that is nearly 125 million years old. These observations extend their known depth range and geographic range significantly.<\/p>\n

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Goblin shark near Tonga Trench in 2024 (Photo credit: Minderoo-University of Western Australia Deep-Sea Research Center and Inkfish.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Seeing the most iconic of all the deep-sea sharks alive and looking healthy in its natural habitat is a unique honour,” said Aaron Judah, lead author of the paper and doctoral candidate working in the Deep-Sea Fish Ecology Lab<\/a> and Deep-Sea Animal Research Center<\/a> (DARC<\/abbr>) in the Department of Oceanography<\/a> at the 糖心视频<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology<\/a>. “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.”<\/p>\n

Judah noted this observation extends the depth record for the entire order of Lamniformes, the mackerel sharks, which include other notable species such as the white shark, basking shark and mako shark. Previously, the goblin shark was only known to inhabit narrow areas off the coast of the western U.S.<\/abbr>, Australia, and Japan in the Pacific Ocean, and narrow regions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The findings significantly extend the geographic range, with both sightings being made in the Central Pacific.<\/p>\n

Treasure hunting in the archives<\/h2>\n

In 2025, Judah spoke with colleagues at DARC<\/abbr> who mentioned there had been a potential goblin shark sighting during a 2019 Ocean Exploration Trust<\/a> expedition aboard the exploration vessel (E\/V<\/abbr>) Nautilus exploring deep-sea ecosystems near Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll and Jarvis Island within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.<\/p>\n

“I was shocked to hear this because this species was not to be known to be in the Central Pacific,” said Judah.<\/p>\n

The footage on that cruise was captured using a camera system on the remotely-operated vehicle Hercules, publicly archived for global access, and later annotated by colleagues at DARC<\/abbr>. Judah combed through this archive and discovered that the team had documented a goblin shark during the livestreamed dive on an unnamed seamount northwest of Jarvis Island.<\/p>\n

The second observation was made during an expedition to the Tonga Trench which took place in 2024 aboard the research vessel (R\/V<\/abbr>) Dagon as part of the Inkfish Open Ocean Expedition led by scientists from the Minderoo-University of Western Australia (UWA<\/abbr>) Deep-Sea Research Center<\/a>, when a baited camera on a bottom lander captured footage of a goblin shark in their natural habitat.<\/p>\n

“The Goblin Shark is one of these deep-sea charismatic animals that I never thought we\u2019d see alive, and then to do so was amazing, but to then learn that colleagues in Hawai\u2019i also saw one was just incredible,” said Alan Jamieson, professor and founding director at Minderoo-UWA<\/abbr> Deep-Sea Research Center and study co-author who documented the 2024 sighting.<\/p>\n

“It is really important that we still perform natural history work,” Judah said. “New discoveries like this demonstrate that there is still so much to explore in our deep ocean home. 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 didnʻt<\/span> know it was even there!”<\/p>\n

This video provides more information about the recent goblin shark publication and interview with lead author Aaron Judah from Ocean Exploration Trust<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first published live observations of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni<\/em>) in its natural deep ocean habitat were reported by a 糖心视频<\/abbr> Mānoa-led<\/span> team of oceanographers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":236039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1363,175,107,158,92,9],"class_list":["post-236030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-marine-biology","tag-oceanography","tag-publication","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t