'Extremely Rare' Orange Shark Found In Costa Rica

Originally posted on SURFER | By Chris Dodds | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 9:35 AM ET

There are countless sharks in the sea, millions (if not billions) of members of various species found in all corners of the ocean. While the Great Whites, Hammerheads, Tigers, Bulls, Black Tips, and other species take most of the attention there's plenty of others out there. In fact, it wasn't long ago that sharks outnumbered humans 10-1 but as industrial-scale fishing operations have raped the seas, they too have suffered.

We may not be shark experts here at SURFER, but we do report on them a lot (any guesses why?) and have a decent grip on what's normal and what's more unique. Just the other day a huge white shark was seen off the Malibu Pier, you can spot juveniles close to shore very regularly, but the big ones are a bit more rare and far more spooky (I used to swim around the pier all the time). But this discovery of an orange shark in Costa Rica is about unique as it gets, quite possibly the only one of it's kind.

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According to the BBC, "A bright orange shark, so far the only one of its kind, was found during a fishing trip near Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica." Almost makes you wonder if the fella is taking fashion cues from the oval office and wants to hang out in Mar A Lago, or perhaps just got into a big stash of Flaming Hot Cheetos, or maybe went too hard with the spray tan to try and impress the ladies.

Alas, the explanation is far less high-school girl getting ready for prom than it is science-y, "Its unusual color is caused by something called xanthism, a condition which researchers say is extremely rare is fishes like sharks. The conditions happens when creatures have a loss of darker pigments in the skin, meaning that a yellow or orange color comes through more strongly."

Ok, science. I guess that checks out.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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