# Deep Sea Ghost Shark Sighting Off Costa Rica Has Scientists Gushing, Internet Making ‘Myrtle Beach Vacation’ Jokes
You know how some people spend their weekends doomscrolling through Twitter, arguing about pineapple on pizza, or trying to figure out if that weird noise in their attic is a raccoon or a sign they should finally sell their house? Well, scientists in Costa Rica just spent their time doing something way cooler: they caught a freaking ghost shark on video. And no, I’m not talking about some dude in a white sheet at a Halloween party.
That’s right, folks. The deep sea decided to flex on us surface-dwellers again, this time by letting a team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute (basically the NASA of “weird stuff that lives where sunlight doesn’t”) capture footage of a pointy-nosed blue chimaera, aka a ghost shark, cruising around near the Cocos Island Seamounts. For those of you who flunked marine biology, a ghost shark isn’t actually a shark. It’s a chimaera, which is like the awkward cousin of sharks and rays that evolution forgot to finish. They’ve got these freaky, rabbit-like faces, venomous spines, and they’ve been doing their thing in the ocean’s shadow realm for like 400 million years. That’s older than the first tree. Older than sharks. Older than your mom’s “that’s not funny” lecture about your MySpace page.
Anyway, the video is spectacular. It’s this iridescent, silvery-blue nightmare fish with eyes that look like it just saw you steal the last slice of pizza and is judging you for eternity. It’s gliding along at about 1,500 meters deep, doing its best impression of a ghost that’s late for a meeting with its probation officer. The scientists are thrilled because this is the first recorded live footage of this specific species in its natural habitat in the eastern Pacific. Translation: we used to only find these guys dead in nets or washed up on beaches, looking like an art project gone wrong. Now we’ve got HD video of one being a total show-off.
Naturally, the internet did what the internet does: it made it weird. Reddit, in all its glory, immediately flooded the comments with “Nope, that’s a skinwalker.” Twitter/X (or whatever Elon’s calling it this week) had a field day with “When you’re trying to sleep but your sleep paralysis demon shows up with a PowerPoint.” One user, @CrustyJuggalo420, summed up the collective sentiment with: “Oh great, another reason to never go in the ocean. As if the great whites, jellyfish, and that one guy who peed in the pool weren’t enough. Now I gotta worry about a translucent mood ring fish with a knife on its back? Hard pass.” Another user, @KarenFromTheHOA, chimed in: “Looks like my ex-husband’s soul finally found a vessel. Hope it’s happy haunting the Mariana Trench, ‘cause it’s dead to me.”
But let’s be real, the best jokes were saved for the name. “Ghost shark?” Come on. That’s like calling a pug a “wrinkle hound.” The scientists call it *Hydrolagus* something-or-other, but the internet immediately started making Myrtle Beach vacation jokes. You know, the kind where you’re supposed to be having a good time, but you end up in a motel that smells like old clam chowder and desperation. “Just saw this at the Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach. 10/10, would not bang,” posted u/SunnyDayz4Ever. Another user, u/BoatyMcBoatface2, added: “This is what you see when you eat the gas station sushi before the 3-hour dolphin cruise.”
And of course, there’s the AITA energy. The video was posted by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and people are already arguing about whether it’s ethical to even look at it. “AITA for wanting to touch the ghost shark? It looks like it wants a hug,” asked u/DeepSeaDaddy. The replies were brutal. “YTA. It’s a 400-million-year-old creature that will probably give you a disease that turns your skin into a coral reef. Also, it’s venomous. Touch grass instead.” Someone else jumped in: “NTA. If I see a translucent fish with a face like a disappointed librarian, I’m tapping that. Nature is metal.”
But here’s the thing that’s actually interesting (besides the fact that this thing looks like it could be the official mascot of a 2020s horror movie about a haunted Airbnb): the discovery itself is a big deal. These ghost sharks are notoriously hard to study because they live in the “twilight zone” of the ocean, that area between 200 and 1,000 meters down where it’s dark, cold, and the pressure would turn your skull into a soda can. Finding one alive, on video, in its natural habitat is like finding a unicorn, but with more teeth and less rainbow glitter.
Scientists are already using the footage to understand its behavior. It’s swimming with its fins spread out like it’s trying to look cool for the camera. It’s probably hunting small crustaceans or fish, using that weird, hook-like spine on its back to defend itself from predators. Which, honestly, is a vibe. If I had a venomous spine, I’d probably also float around looking unimpressed.
But leave it to social media to turn a legitimate scientific breakthrough into a meme war. The whole thing has devolved into a debate about whether ghost sharks are “cursed” or just “ugly-hot.” TikTok has already spawned a trend where people put the ghost shark footage over sad indie music and caption it “POV: You’re the only one who remembers the dinosaurs.” Instagram is flooded with “deep sea aesthetic” posts, complete with the caption “She’s not like other girls. She’s a
Final Thoughts
As a marine journalist who’s seen nature’s oddities paraded as headlines, I’ll say this: the footage of a deep-sea ghost shark gliding off Costa Rica isn’t merely a spectacle—it’s a humbling reminder that we’ve barely scratched the surface of our own planet. These ancient, cartilaginous wraiths, with their eerie, translucent forms and retractable sex organs, challenge our tidy definitions of life and evolution, thriving in a crushing, lightless abyss we can only simulate. Ultimately, every such sighting is a quiet indictment of our shallow focus; while we gaze toward the stars, the profound mysteries of our own abyss remain just a camera’s flash away.