--- title: Rare Goblin Shark Caught in Shrimp Net in Gulf of Mexico Off Key West description: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water canonical: https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-05T11:00:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:23.997Z og:title: Rare Goblin Shark Caught in Shrimp Net in Gulf of Mexico Off Key West og:description: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water og:url: https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3b59f95c6be6d36/69868dc4169ab06c9f279228/shrimp-fishermen-working-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-hauled-up-a-lot-more-than-they-bargained-for-last-month-when-they-netted-a-rare-goblin-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Goblin Shark og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rare Goblin Shark Caught in Shrimp Net in Gulf of Mexico Off Key West twitter:description: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3b59f95c6be6d36/69868dc4169ab06c9f279228/shrimp-fishermen-working-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-hauled-up-a-lot-more-than-they-bargained-for-last-month-when-they-netted-a-rare-goblin-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Giant, Pink Goblin Shark Caught in Gulf of Mexico Will Haunt Your Dreams by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman May 5, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  This creature was caught on April 19 off the coast of Key West, Florida. This creature was caught on April 19 off the coast of Key West, Florida.Carl Moore—Courtesy of NOAA by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman May 5, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Last month, while working in the Gulf of Mexico, a crew of fishermen accidentally caught a very rare (and very terrifying) beast. The crew had cast a net 2,000 feet into the water just off the coast of Key West, Fla., and noticed a peculiar creature mixed in with their usual load of shrimp, the Houston _Chronicle_ [reports](http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Scientists-amazed-by-accidental-Gulf-catch-of-5448545.php#photo-6249418). “I didn’t even know what it was,” lifelong fisherman Carl Moore told the _Chronicle_. “I didn’t get the tape measure out because that thing’s got some wicked teeth, they could do some damage.” This creature, it turned out, was a rare goblin shark, estimated to be about 18 feet long. Moore snapped a few photos before hoisting the creature back into the sea (yes, it’s _still out there_). Though More and his crew caught the shark on Apr. 19, they didn’t report it to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration until last week. “This is great news,” John Carlson, NOAA shark expert, told the _Chronicle_. “This is only the second confirmed sighting in the Gulf, the majority of specimens are found off Japan or in the Indian Ocean and around South Africa.” So when that razor-toothed pink monster haunts your dreams tonight, at least you can console yourself with a reminder that this is good news for science. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/"},"headline":"This Giant, Pink Goblin Shark Caught in Gulf of Mexico Will Haunt Your Dreams","datePublished":"2014-05-05T11:00:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:23.997Z","description":"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water","url":"https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Sharks","animals","Oceans","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3b59f95c6be6d36/69868dc4169ab06c9f279228/shrimp-fishermen-working-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-hauled-up-a-lot-more-than-they-bargained-for-last-month-when-they-netted-a-rare-goblin-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3b59f95c6be6d36/69868dc4169ab06c9f279228/shrimp-fishermen-working-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-hauled-up-a-lot-more-than-they-bargained-for-last-month-when-they-netted-a-rare-goblin-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Goblin Shark","caption":"This creature was caught on April 19 off the coast of Key West, Florida.","creditText":"Carl Moore—Courtesy of NOAA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/87252/goblin-shark-key-west-florida/","name":"This Giant, Pink Goblin Shark Caught in Gulf of Mexico Will Haunt Your Dreams"}}]}] ```