New video of rare goblin shark at Cephalopodcast

[via JW, thanks!]

A couple of weeks ago the world got to see stunning video of a rare deep sea frill shark. Another bizarre looking customer is the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni). You can check out some amazing photos and videos of a live goblin shark at this website:

We eagerly await to see if the fine folks from Pink Tentacle can help with a translation. In the meantime, here is Google Translates robotic effort.

UPDATE: According to the Underwater Times, the shark did not survive for long.

A goblin shark — a rarely seen species often called a “living fossil” — was caught alive in Tokyo Bay but died after being put on display, an aquarium said.

The grey, long-nosed shark was caught in fishermen’s nets around 150 to 200 metres (500 to 650 feet) deep. It was discovered by officials of the Tokyo Sea Life Park when they took a boat with local fishermen on January 25.

But the shark died on the morning of January 27.

Reuter news: goblin shark
Reuter news: frill shark

The Reuters report repeats the misconception that these deep sea creatures die primarily because of a sudden pressure change. Deep sea animals have bodies composed mostly of water, with no gas pockets. Because liquids are virtually incompressible, these animals seem to suffer little pressure-induced effects from dramatic depth changes. It’s far more likely that the change in temperature is more stressful (from 4°C to ~30°C).

5 Responses to “New video of rare goblin shark”

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1 shark ch1ck
April 5, 2007 at 6:42 pm

I’m not sure that its unusuall to find one of these sharks by tokyo bay because i read they are found in the bay of japan which is right near tokyo. :~)
2 Jason
April 5, 2007 at 11:36 pm

shark Ch1ck: Great name! You are right, goblin sharks are collected with more frequency around Japan. But the Florida Museum of Natural History indicates that they may be widely distributed around the globe:

The deep-water goblin shark is thought to be widely distributed. Specimens have been seen in the Atlantic off the coast of Guyana, Surinam, French Guyana, France, Madeira, Senegal, Portugal, Gulf of Guinea, and South Africa. It has also been reported in the western pacific off Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In the Indian Ocean it is found in South Africa and Mozambique. It was recently recorded in the United States near San Clemente Island off the coast of California as well as in the northern Gulf of Mexico south of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Few specimens have ever been caught making it one of the rarest species of sharks.

So it is still rare, but it might be because we have not explored enough.
3 keilyn
April 11, 2007 at 8:55 pm

i would love if you sent me some pictures of goblin sharks and videos
4 Jason
April 15, 2007 at 10:41 pm
keilyn: Sorry, don’t have any pictures or video to send to you. These sharks are pretty rare.

However, you can try contacting these people:
- SeaPics
- Ocean Footage
Or just follow the links in the post to see something for free.
5 billy bob
June 21, 2007 at 10:24 pm

Oh man, i really wish people would leave goblin sharks alone, they die WAY to easy, and there endangered as it is!! Dont mess with em.

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