Merry…uh…Happy, no…hmmm, oh, Hooray,  it’s HAGFISH DAY!!! Celebrate the anniversary of the 11th Hagfish Day Celebration with us October 16, 2024!!! Fifteen  years of exotic, unusual, some might say ugly (we prefer beauty-challenged) ocean animals.

WhaleTimes created Hagfish Day (in 2009) to celebrate the beauty of ugly. Hagfish are the perfect example. These deep-sea scavengers ooze 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.”

How do you celebrate Hagfish Day? Classrooms, individuals and families can participate by making Hagfish Slime, writing , make or send a Hagfish Bouquet to a friend. It’s sure to be a good slime! Below are some Hagfish Day activities if you just can’t wait to celebrate the beauty of ugly.

What makes for a great Hagfish Day star? Animals that are a combination of unusual, endangered, and beauty challenged.

Hagfish Stars Unveiled

• Snot Bombs (Aka Upside-Down Jellyfish)
• Melon-headed whales
• Giant Frigatebird
• Hawaiian Monk Seal
• Barreleye
• black dragonfish (Echiostoma barbatum)
• Heteropods What are heteropods you might ask? According to expert Kris Clark,, “…They’re kind of like little globs of snot looking for other snot-like creatures to eat…”
• Marine iguana
• Mighty Marine Microbes
• Rockhopper penguin
• Save the Planet, Wear Hagfish Slime

And of course the lovely hagfish

• Watch these amazing hagfish tying themselves in knots and eating shared by  Dr. Andrew Clark:
  • Knotty Pacific hagfish 
  • Atlantic Hagfish Knotting Itself (by Mr Austin Haney and Dr Ted Uyeno)
  • Biting Atlantic Hagfish

 

Meet some Hagfish Day Fans (aka experts)

• Andrew Clark & Hagfish Knots
• Kristine Clark & Heteropods
• Jeffrey Drazen & Hagfish
• Jeffrey Drazen & Rattails
• Jeffrey Drazon & Barreleye Fish
• Douglas Fudge & Hagfish
• Joe Lopez & Marine Microbes
• Tracey Sutton & Dragonfish

 

 

Want to show your friends you care, but don’t have time to make a  Hagfish Bouquet? Check out our Hagfish Day Activities