14 DAY TRIAL // A shrimper who was fishing off the coast of Key West Florida hauled up a specimen of the rarely seen, little-known goblin shark last month.
Carl Moore says he was fishing for royal red shrimp on April 19 when he pulled up a net from more than 2,000 feet (609 meters) deep and discovered he had caught more than just shrimp. He accidentally netted an 18-foot (5.5-meter) long goblin shark, which is the rarest of all sharks ever to be seen by humans.
According to Daily Mail, this is only the second goblin shark ever to be found in the Gulf of Mexico. The last specimen seen in the Gulf was in July 2000. They usually live in the deep water canyons surrounding Japan, so a Gulf sighting is really rare.
The massive pink shark has a rather freakish look, with an elongated, flattened snout and a protruding jaw with narrow, jagged teeth.
“I didn't even know what it was. I didn't get the tape measure out because that thing's got some wicked teeth, they could do some damage,” Moore said.
After taking some photos of the rare creature with his cellphone, Moore safely released it back into the ocean.
John Carlson from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says very little information is known about goblin sharks, as this is only the second confirmed sighting in the Gulf. Because it is so rare, scientists don't even know how long they live, what's their biological status or how they reproduce.