Real or fake? The goblin shark that washed up on a beach in Greece might just be a plastic toy. Photos: eBay//Mediterranean Marine Science
The sea is full of strange creatures, and one of the strangest is the goblin shark. And that weird bit of evolution is currently at the center of a possible hoax.
Back in 2022, researchers published a paper about a juvenile goblin shark that had apparently been found dead on a beach in Greece. On August 25, 2020, a man walking on Klisidi beach of Anafi Island in Greece stumbled across what appeared to be something that shouldn’t have been there: a goblin shark. He picked it up, moved it onto a rock to take a better picture of it, and sent it to a group of scientists.
Since goblin sharks are incredibly rare sightings and had never been observed in the Mediterranean Sea, it had scientists’ hearts aflutter. But now, after a few more scientists had a closer look at the situation, it appears that the whole thing might’ve been fake — not just the story itself, but the goblin shark. It might actually just be a plastic toy.
“If it’s actually a picture of a toy goblin shark, as multiple sources suggest,” wrote Gizmodo, “it’s a cautionary tale about citizen science, negligent editing and peer review, and the pressure scientists face to publish new findings as fast and frequently as possible.”
The paper, called “New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea,” was based on a photograph sent in by a citizen scientist, which is basically just a regular citizen who volunteers their time to helping scientists find interesting things. An exceedingly rare shark in a place that sharks had never been found before certainly was that, and the non-citizen scientists’ ears perked up. But none of the researchers involved in the paper actually laid eyes on the “shark” in the photo.
Then, a few months after the paper was released, a handful of scientists filled their spotlights with scrutiny and shone a bright beam on it. “On close examination of this image…doubts arise about the authenticity,” they wrote.
Gizmodo authors went on to explain that the commenters had good reason to doubt that the image was a real goblin shark. “The commenters listed 10 reasons for their skepticism,” they wrote. “From the shape of the jaw and other bits on the ‘specimen’ in the photograph, to the incorrect number of gills, the rigidity of the fins, and the lack of detail in the article description.”
The initial researchers were quick to defend themselves, but they didn’t exactly make things much clearer. And since the internet is the internet, the internet did what the internet does and let everyone spout an opinion. Back and forth and back and forth everyone went, each of them with a thought or an idea. Some with “proof” of the validity of the goblin shark, with with “proof” of the invalidity.
“In my opinion, it is a model of a such a shark,” said independent shark researcher Jürgen Pollerspöck, in an email to Gizmodo. Pollerspöck was a contributing author to a paper disputing the authenticity of the goblin shark.
One theory that appears to be particularly convincing is that the goblin shark is a toy that anyone can buy on eBay.
The mystery comes to an end. It’s a toy shark. https://t.co/qRdPP5PvzQ
— Andrew Thaler (@DrAndrewThaler) March 16, 2023
For comparison’s sake, here’s the original goblin shark image with eBay’s toy shark again:
A comparison of the “real” Goblin shark and the eBay Goblin shark. Photos: eBay//Mediterranean Marine Science
On close inspection, one of the most obvious signs that the Greek shark could be a plastic toy is the seam running from the gills to the mouth. Real goblin sharks don’t always have that protruding mouth, either. The tail and rostrum are too round and too droopy, as well.
While it’s not known exactly what the person who took the original photo was up to, it’s unlikely that the scientists who published the report on it were up to no good intentionally. It appears they simply didn’t do their due diligence and rushed to publish a paper that, perhaps, needed a few more eyes.
