Scientists have reported the first-ever live observations of the elusive goblin shark in its natural deep-sea habitat, capturing footage at two remote locations in the Central Pacific.
Few sharks are as strange—or as elusive—as the goblin shark. With its elongated snout, protrusible jaws, and ancient lineage stretching back nearly 125 million years, the deep-sea predator has long fascinated scientists, yet no one had ever documented it alive in its natural habitat.
Now, a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa-led team of oceanographers has reported the first published live sightings of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in the deep ocean. The study, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, describes two encounters in the Central Pacific, one near a seamount off Jarvis Island and another along the slope of the Tonga Trench.
Until now, live goblin sharks had only been filmed or observed after being caught on fishing lines and hauled to the surface, where they typically died soon afterward. The new observations not only provide an unprecedented look at the species in its natural environment but also significantly expand its known geographic and depth ranges.
“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 and Deep-Sea Animal Research Center (DARC) in the Department of Oceanography at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “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.”
Central Pacific Discovery Expands Known Range
Judah noted that the Tonga Trench sighting also sets a new depth record for all Lamniformes, the order of mackerel sharks that includes white sharks, basking sharks, and mako sharks. Before these findings, goblin sharks were known only from limited areas off the western U.S., Australia, and Japan in the Pacific Ocean, along with narrow regions of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Because both new sightings occurred in the Central Pacific, they significantly broaden the species’ known range.
Goblin shark near Jarvis Island (2019). Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust, Nautilus Live.
In 2025, Judah learned from colleagues at DARC that a possible goblin shark had been seen during a 2019 Ocean Exploration Trust expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus. That expedition studied deep-sea ecosystems near Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Jarvis Island in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
“I was shocked to hear this because this species was not to be known to be in the Central Pacific,” said Judah.
During that cruise, the remotely operated vehicle Hercules recorded video with a camera system. The footage was publicly archived and later annotated by DARC colleagues at UH Mānoa. After reviewing the archive, Judah confirmed that the team had recorded a goblin shark during a livestreamed dive at an unnamed seamount northwest of Jarvis Island.
Tonga Trench Encounter Reveals Record-Breaking Depths
The second sighting came from a 2024 expedition to the Tonga Trench aboard the R/V Dagon. The work was part of the Inkfish Open Ocean Expedition, led by scientists from the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center. During the expedition, a baited camera on a bottom lander captured footage of a goblin shark in its natural habitat.
“The Goblin Shark is one of these deep-sea charismatic animals that I never thought we’d see alive, and then to do so was amazing, but to then learn that colleagues in Hawai’i also saw one was just incredible,” said Alan Jamieson, professor and founding director at Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center and a study co-author who documented the 2024 sighting.
“It is really important that we still perform natural history work,” Judah emphasized. “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 nationʻs biodiversity list, whereas, beforehand, we didnʻt know it was even there!”
Reference: “First in situ observations of the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni” by Aaron B. Judah, Alan J. Jamieson, Sarah R. D. Bingo, Megan E. Cundy, David A. Ebert, Steven Auscavitch, Harold K. Carlson, Tiffany Nicole G. Cunanan, Hayley B. Sims and Meagan Putts, 19 May 2026, Journal of Fish Biology.
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.70505
This study was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration, Inkfish LLC, and the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre.
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