It was a typical day for a group of shrimp fishers at the Gulf of Mexico when an extremely rare catch caught them off guard. Something other than the shrimps was trapped in their nets. Their haul from 2,000 feet below contained a hideous primeval-looking goblin shark.
The huge catch was 18 feet long, few notches bigger than a goblin shark's usual size of 10 to 13 feet, and it was the second of the rare shark species that was unintentionally fished out in the Gulf, with the first one caught in 2002.
One of the fishers, Carl Moore, immediately reported it to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist. After snapping a few pictures, Moore and his fellow fishermen immediately released the shark.
"I didn't even know what it was," he said. "I didn't get the tape measure out because that thing's got some wicked teeth, they could do some damage."
These goblin sharks (Mitsukurina owstoni) are mostly found in the waters of the Atlantic, seamounts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the Pacific. Shivers of them are found in Japan, in the Tosa Bay and Bosa Peninsula, where the very first specimen was discovered.
The goblin shark got its name from an old Japanese name tenguzame, from the mythical creature of Japanese folklore named tengu that resembles a human bird with an unnaturally long beak-like nose.
Since goblin sharks thrive in the depths of the world's oceans, little is known about their kind.
Goblin sharks are easily identified with their overall outlandish appearance, most notably their pointed flat snouts and protruding jaws lined with sharp awl-like teeth. They are pinkish in color and possess bluish fins but these are not distinct underwater. In fact, they blend well in the darkness of the ocean's bottom, enabling them to lurk and snap on unsuspecting prey.
They look very prehistoric it earned the nickname "the living fossil."
In an official announcement on its Facebook page, The NOAA Fisheries Service encouraged the public to report such rare sightings and catches to help biologists collect more data on some of the world's elusive and rare species.
Sharks, the kings of the sea, are fished mostly for their fins, which has sparked debates among the marine conservationists and fishing companies. But the goblins are safe from this.
"There is minimal commercial interest for the goblin shark. It is fished only as a bycatch of deepwater trawl, longlines and deep-set gill nets. It has been dried-salted for human consumption," wrote the Florida Museum of Natural History. "Although it is thought to be a great exhibit, it has rarely been kept in captivity."
