Goblin shark with face ‘not even a mother would love’ seen alive in natural habitat for first time

Elusive creatures have previously only been seen on fishing lines and experts know ‘virtually nothing about them’

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Rare and eccentric-looking goblin sharks have been seen alive in their deep ocean habitat for the first time ever.

Prof Alan Jamieson, director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, said goblin sharks were a bit like the colossal squid – creatures with an almost mythological quality. They were almost never seen alive, he said, and previously only when they were accidentally hooked on a fishing line.