‘World’s ugliest shark’ filmed alive in deep sea for first time

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One of the world’s strangest sharks has been filmed alive in its natural habitat for the first time.

The bizarre-looking goblin shark – often dubbed the ‘ugliest shark on the planet’ because of its protruding snout and terrifying extendable jaws – has previously only been seen alive after being accidentally caught by fishermen and hauled to the surface.

But now scientists have recorded two live sightings of the rare deep-sea predator swimming freely thousands of feet below the ocean.

The breakthrough was reported by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in the Journal of Fish Biology.

Lead author Aaron Judah discovered the first sighting after hearing colleagues mention a possible goblin shark encounter during a 2019 expedition.

The mission had been exploring deep-sea ecosystems near Jarvis Island, a protected wildlife refuge around 1,305 nautical miles south of Honolulu.

Aaron Judah said: ‘I was shocked to hear this because this species was not known to be in the Central Pacific.’

After reviewing footage from the expedition, he confirmed the team had indeed captured video of a goblin shark during a livestreamed dive northwest of the island.

A second encounter came in 2024 when researchers exploring the Tonga Trench recorded another goblin shark using a baited deep-sea camera.

Professor Alan Jamieson, founding director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, said: ‘The goblin shark is one of these deep-sea charismatic animals that I never thought we’d see alive.