Paul Clerkin
@paulclerkin.bsky.social
Hi everyone! I study lesser known sharks in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Let’s talk sharks!
Check out this AMAZING video of a Goblin Shark filmed in the Tonga Trench at 2000 meters (6500 ft)!
Video captured by @inkfishexpeditions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiq0...
Video captured by @inkfishexpeditions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiq0...
A glimpse of the Goblin Shark - 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪
Recently spotted during a lander deployment to 2000 meters in the Tonga Trench, this rare species of #deepsea #shark is often described as a "living fossil". The Goblin shark is one of the few…
www.youtube.com
August 19, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Check out this AMAZING video of a Goblin Shark filmed in the Tonga Trench at 2000 meters (6500 ft)!
Video captured by @inkfishexpeditions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiq0...
Video captured by @inkfishexpeditions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiq0...
This is what you get in the Explorers Club Annual Dinner swag bag. Pretty nice and it comes in an awesome backpack :)
August 5, 2025 at 9:01 AM
This is what you get in the Explorers Club Annual Dinner swag bag. Pretty nice and it comes in an awesome backpack :)
Bumped into Sylvia Earle. She is always so down to earth. Everyone loved the shirt @cottoncrustacean !
August 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Bumped into Sylvia Earle. She is always so down to earth. Everyone loved the shirt @cottoncrustacean !
I was at the Explorers Club Headquarters in NYC and I bumped into one of my favorite underwater robots :) Plus this piece of the first lunar rover.
August 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I was at the Explorers Club Headquarters in NYC and I bumped into one of my favorite underwater robots :) Plus this piece of the first lunar rover.
I was at the Explorers Club a few months ago and what did I see in the Research Collections? Roy Chapman Andrews' whip! Roy Chapman Andrews was an explorer who carried a whip and was the real life Indiana Jones. Steven Spielberg visited the club twice which led to him developing Indiana Jones.
August 3, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I was at the Explorers Club a few months ago and what did I see in the Research Collections? Roy Chapman Andrews' whip! Roy Chapman Andrews was an explorer who carried a whip and was the real life Indiana Jones. Steven Spielberg visited the club twice which led to him developing Indiana Jones.
I had a fantastic time at the Explorers Club annual dinner after my NGEN talk. I met so many wonderful, interesting, and kind people. I can't wait to go again next year.
(To everyone who asked about my pin, it's made by @circadiancrunuch and she has a bunch of awesome stuff)
(To everyone who asked about my pin, it's made by @circadiancrunuch and she has a bunch of awesome stuff)
August 3, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I had a fantastic time at the Explorers Club annual dinner after my NGEN talk. I met so many wonderful, interesting, and kind people. I can't wait to go again next year.
(To everyone who asked about my pin, it's made by @circadiancrunuch and she has a bunch of awesome stuff)
(To everyone who asked about my pin, it's made by @circadiancrunuch and she has a bunch of awesome stuff)
Excited to have been able to contribute to this publication on the discovery of a NEW SPECIES of manta ray! Officially named Mobula yarae. The specific epithet, yarae, is in reverence to “Yara”, mother of the waters, from ancient Tupi and Guaraní mythology."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
An integrative taxonomy investigation unravels a cryptic species of Mobula Rafinesque, 1810 (Mobulidae, Myliobatiformes), from the Atlantic Ocean - Environmental Biology of Fishes
Manta and devil rays comprise a vulnerable animal group with a complex nomenclatural history and a somewhat unresolved taxonomy. The existence of a putative undescribed species of manta ray in the…
link.springer.com
July 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Excited to have been able to contribute to this publication on the discovery of a NEW SPECIES of manta ray! Officially named Mobula yarae. The specific epithet, yarae, is in reverence to “Yara”, mother of the waters, from ancient Tupi and Guaraní mythology."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Just in case you wondered what it's like in FAO headquarters I snuck around and took some pictures just for you. Its a beautiful building.
July 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Just in case you wondered what it's like in FAO headquarters I snuck around and took some pictures just for you. Its a beautiful building.
I found this old picture from a Shark Week/Discovery pool party from back in the day. Look how youthful I was before the PhD!
July 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I found this old picture from a Shark Week/Discovery pool party from back in the day. Look how youthful I was before the PhD!
Hanging out on the rooftops in Rome. Not a bad way to pass the time.
July 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Hanging out on the rooftops in Rome. Not a bad way to pass the time.
So the FAO headquarters is pretty fancy 🤩
July 24, 2025 at 9:00 AM
So the FAO headquarters is pretty fancy 🤩
Hard to believe it has been over 10 years since I discovered this NEW SPECIES of ghost shark during #AlienShark on @SharkWeek. I named the species the SeaFarer’s Ghost Shark (Chimaera willwatchi) for my hard working friends onboard the fishing vessel Will Watch. 🤩🦈
July 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Hard to believe it has been over 10 years since I discovered this NEW SPECIES of ghost shark during #AlienShark on @SharkWeek. I named the species the SeaFarer’s Ghost Shark (Chimaera willwatchi) for my hard working friends onboard the fishing vessel Will Watch. 🤩🦈
🌊🦈 Big news! I am SO excited to be presenting at the UN/FAO event, “Fishing for deep sea shark data.” I will fly to FAO headquarters in Rome to join an international team of shark experts and the workshop will be streamed online: www.fao.org/in-action/co... Hosted by @fao @commonoceans
https://www.fao.org/in-action/commonoceans/newsroom/news-and-stories/news-detail/fishing-for-deep-sea-shark-data/en📍
July 10, 2025 at 4:58 PM
🌊🦈 Big news! I am SO excited to be presenting at the UN/FAO event, “Fishing for deep sea shark data.” I will fly to FAO headquarters in Rome to join an international team of shark experts and the workshop will be streamed online: www.fao.org/in-action/co... Hosted by @fao @commonoceans
I am honored to be featured in this GEF (Global Environment Facility) article for my role in shark conservation. If you aren't tired of me talking about lesser known sharks, the deepsea, and conversation through cooperation check out there story www.thegef.org/newsroom/fea...
Finding, tagging, and helping to sustain shark populations
www.thegef.org
June 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
I am honored to be featured in this GEF (Global Environment Facility) article for my role in shark conservation. If you aren't tired of me talking about lesser known sharks, the deepsea, and conversation through cooperation check out there story www.thegef.org/newsroom/fea...
I was so excited to handle this amazing oarfish off the coast of Taiwan a few years ago. It had a freaky mouth which projected out and was so soft it was almost gelatinous. Who doesn't love an oarfish?!
(We did not experience any earthquakes in the area around that time)
Photo credit Zola Chen
(We did not experience any earthquakes in the area around that time)
Photo credit Zola Chen
June 10, 2025 at 9:01 AM
I was so excited to handle this amazing oarfish off the coast of Taiwan a few years ago. It had a freaky mouth which projected out and was so soft it was almost gelatinous. Who doesn't love an oarfish?!
(We did not experience any earthquakes in the area around that time)
Photo credit Zola Chen
(We did not experience any earthquakes in the area around that time)
Photo credit Zola Chen
I am so excited to have been part of this workshop on scientific observation in deep-sea fisheries as part of the FAO-led Common Oceans Deep-sea fisheries project.
Also, I will give you a shiny nickel of you can tell me what species I am holding on this article.
www.fao.org/newsroom/sto...
Also, I will give you a shiny nickel of you can tell me what species I am holding on this article.
www.fao.org/newsroom/sto...
May 21, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I am so excited to have been part of this workshop on scientific observation in deep-sea fisheries as part of the FAO-led Common Oceans Deep-sea fisheries project.
Also, I will give you a shiny nickel of you can tell me what species I am holding on this article.
www.fao.org/newsroom/sto...
Also, I will give you a shiny nickel of you can tell me what species I am holding on this article.
www.fao.org/newsroom/sto...
I bought a CHEAP microscope camera about a year ago and I have been having an AWESOME time taking up close images like these birdbeak shark denticles. It is super cool and interesting to see stuff unclose this clear. What else should I take pictures of? Give me some ideas!
May 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
I bought a CHEAP microscope camera about a year ago and I have been having an AWESOME time taking up close images like these birdbeak shark denticles. It is super cool and interesting to see stuff unclose this clear. What else should I take pictures of? Give me some ideas!
Look at this amazing encounter with a large Globin shark that was released alive! This happened off the Canary Islands and is a first sighting of the species in that area.
Who else is super fascinated by Goblin sharks?!?
Video in the linked story.
www.canarianweekly.com/posts/VIDEO-...
Who else is super fascinated by Goblin sharks?!?
Video in the linked story.
www.canarianweekly.com/posts/VIDEO-...
VIDEO: Rare species of shark is spotted for the first time in Canary Islands waters
The Goblin Shark is a deep-sea species seldom seen by humans…
www.canarianweekly.com
April 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Look at this amazing encounter with a large Globin shark that was released alive! This happened off the Canary Islands and is a first sighting of the species in that area.
Who else is super fascinated by Goblin sharks?!?
Video in the linked story.
www.canarianweekly.com/posts/VIDEO-...
Who else is super fascinated by Goblin sharks?!?
Video in the linked story.
www.canarianweekly.com/posts/VIDEO-...
I am honored and excited to be one of six Next Generation Explorers selected by the Explorers club to present an NGEN talk at their annual dinner in NYC. If anyone happens to be around the HQ in Manhattan on Saturday come by and say hi!
www.explorers.org/ngen-symposi...
www.explorers.org/ngen-symposi...
NGEN Symposium | The Explorers Club
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www.explorers.org
April 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I am honored and excited to be one of six Next Generation Explorers selected by the Explorers club to present an NGEN talk at their annual dinner in NYC. If anyone happens to be around the HQ in Manhattan on Saturday come by and say hi!
www.explorers.org/ngen-symposi...
www.explorers.org/ngen-symposi...
Viperfish might have weird faces, but they make up for with their sparkle sparkle bioluminescence
April 20, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Viperfish might have weird faces, but they make up for with their sparkle sparkle bioluminescence
It’s been 8 years since my travel series pilot aired. Time flies! I loved making this show with Shark Teeth Films. Each year, I reflect on how lucky I am to do this work and hope to share it in a series soon.
4K views · 65 reactions | Deep Sea Mysteries - Teaser | Deep Sea...
Deep Sea Mysteries is back! Tune into Travel Channel to catch Paul J Clerkin in action!...
buff.ly
January 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM
It’s been 8 years since my travel series pilot aired. Time flies! I loved making this show with Shark Teeth Films. Each year, I reflect on how lucky I am to do this work and hope to share it in a series soon.
I love tropical islands, traveling, and seeing old friends, but I am absolutely ready to come home for the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I am so tired of hotel rooms 😭
December 13, 2024 at 5:18 PM
I love tropical islands, traveling, and seeing old friends, but I am absolutely ready to come home for the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I am so tired of hotel rooms 😭
Staying on the right side of the law down at the port. Traveling with fish is never easy and these guys were kind and helpful.
December 9, 2024 at 1:28 PM
Staying on the right side of the law down at the port. Traveling with fish is never easy and these guys were kind and helpful.
Hatchetfish are so weird looking. But their compressed bodies, silver sides, and bioluminescence help them swim unseen in the deep sea. I think they’re so cool but look creepy when viewed straight one.
December 8, 2024 at 3:28 PM
Hatchetfish are so weird looking. But their compressed bodies, silver sides, and bioluminescence help them swim unseen in the deep sea. I think they’re so cool but look creepy when viewed straight one.
Thanks to everyone wishing me a relaxing time at home. HOWEVER I’ve been scooped up for an FAO/UN workshop in Mauritius. I miss home, but it’s been great to see some friends that I haven’t seen for ages. It was a fancy event in a fancy venue. Good thing I happen to have a collared shirt with me.
December 6, 2024 at 5:05 PM
Thanks to everyone wishing me a relaxing time at home. HOWEVER I’ve been scooped up for an FAO/UN workshop in Mauritius. I miss home, but it’s been great to see some friends that I haven’t seen for ages. It was a fancy event in a fancy venue. Good thing I happen to have a collared shirt with me.