Hagfish Day  

 
the celebration of the beauty of ugly!

 October 20, 2010

WhaleTimes Announces 2010 Hagfish Day Stars

October 20, 2010: Forget sugarplums and heart-shaped candies, now there’s a real holiday for real kids – Hagfish Day.

WhaleTimes created Hagfish Day last year to ‘celebrate the beauty of ugly.’ Hagfish are the perfect example. These deep-sea scavengers ooze slime — buckets of slime.  They also play an important role in their ecosystem.

WhaleTimes believes repugnant and slightly revolting animals like hagfish make great role models for highlighting conservation concerns for all marine animals. “Sometimes it seems as if ecological causes are popularity contests that exclude the less attractive and less well-known, though equally vulnerable, creatures,” said WhaleTimes Director Ruth Musgrave. “There are species in peril that kids never hear about.” Last year, Hagfish Day introduced many to the vaquita, a critically endangered whale few people even know exists.

Individuals, families, and classrooms are invited to celebrate Hagfish Day. This year’s Hagfish Day stars are a combination of unusual, endangered, and beauty challenged. Besides the ever-popular hagfish, the 2010 Hagfish Day stars include:

Photo used with permission. Copyright 2004 MBARI 2004	• Spookfish: With its transparent head, you can almost see what’s on its mind!
	• Right Whale: With its lice, giant calluses, and robust figure, one might suggest a beauty makeover, however, what right whales really need is our help protecting them from extinction.
	• Hooded seals: Don’t make him laugh or a balloon comes out his nose
	• Stauroteuthis (star-oh-tooth-iss): Glow-in-the-dark suckers, webbed-arms, and a   bright red body...this octopus from the deep is just too cool to miss.

Ocean experts, including right whale researcher Dr. Shannon Bettridge and Dr. Jeffrey Drazen who studies hagfish and other deep sea creatures, share their research and fascination of the Hagfish Day stars. 

This year, the very popular Ugly Beauty Contest is back. Plus, more Hagfish Haikus, slimy activities, and more are all part of the fun.

Join WhaleTimes this October 20 to celebrate the beauty of ugly on the second annual Hagfish Day. It’s sure to be a good slime!

Hagfish Day 2010 Stars and Activities (more to come)                                         

Last year's Hagfish Day Stars and Activities                                          

 What is Hagfish Day?

    Hagfish Day^™ is a special day, created by WhaleTimes, is a fun, somewhat tongue-in-cheek event with an important and serious goal: To raise awareness and understanding of the uniqueness and significance of all sea creatures — even the ugly, slimy, misunderstood, or unusual. How do you celebrate the beauty of ugly?  Make slime, raise awareness of the MOST endangered whale species, vote for your favorite ugly-beauty, write a Hagfish Haiku, read about strange sharks and tiny fish that...well suck...and more.

Celebrate this holiday for a day, a week, all year...the animals will thank you for coming to the party!

    Happy Hagfish Day!  

                                   Jake, the SeaDog

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Press Release: WhaleTimes Announces New Holiday: Hagfish Day (04/14/09)