Shrimpers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico accidentally netted a prehistoric looking goblin shark that is the rarest of all sharks ever to be seen by human eyes. The goblin shark nabbed off Key West, Florida which was 18-feet-long, pink, and has a long snout to conceal it pointy teeth from prey is the second ever of its kind to be seen in the Gulf.
The goblin shark is known to live in the deep waters of Japan and a Gulf sighting is so rare that its the first in over 10 years.
SF Gate reports that the goblin sighting 10-years-ago was so exciting for researchers that a scientific paper was written.
The crew of fisherman who made the latest catch had a net 2,000 feet under water and were shocked to find a massive pink shark among the shrimp they catch on a daily basis.
The prehistoric looking creature sometimes called the ‘living fossil’ thrashed on the deck and had teeth so sharp that the fishermen were too afraid to pull out the tape measure and hold it up to the mysterious creature.
‘I didn’t even know what it was,’ said fisherman Carl Moore to SF Gate.
Instead of keeping the shark to do research, Moore decided to snap a quick photo of the fish with his cell phone then release it back into the water.
Based on photographs researchers guessed that the shark was a female and at least 18-feet-long.
Even though researchers are relieved that the shark has been set free, they are unhappy that they won’t be able to examine the rare specimen.
Scientists know so little about the fish that they can’t even determine how old or how big it gets.
However, scientists do know that deep underwater the color red appears black making the shark appear almost invisible to predators and prey.
Shark Blogger and University of Miami marine biologist David Schiffman didn’t even believe that finding a goblin shark in the gulf was possible.
‘At first I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for this to happen, but then when the photos came through, it is undeniably a goblin shark. It’s a shark … that’s pink!
For Moore, the shark was a catch of a lifetime and he is happy that he threw the animal back in the water.
