Rare deep-sea goblin sharks filmed in natural habitat for first time

The first published live observations of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in its natural deep-ocean habitat were reported in a new paper by a University of Hawai'i at Mānoa-led team of oceanographers. In the past, goblin sharks were filmed and reported alive only after being hooked on a fishing line and hauled to the surface, where divers could observe them and where they soon died. The new study, published in Journal of Fish Biology, documents two live observations of one of the most elusive yet iconic sharks on the planet—one at a seamount near Jarvis Island and another on the slope of the Tonga Trench.