\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake, the SeaDog\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n What was your first thought when you heard that hagfish finally got their own holiday?<\/strong><\/p>\n JD:<\/span> I was very surprised and wondered who would love hagfish enough to give them their own day of recognition! They are very cool but so few people know enough about them to appreciate them. Do you think other animals might be intimidated by the beauty that is hagfish? <\/strong><\/p>\n JD:<\/span> Many animals are intimidated by hagfish! Their slime alone is enough to deter all but the most voracious predators!<\/p>\n What do you want kids to know about hagfish?<\/strong><\/p>\n JD:<\/span> Hagfish may be ugly but they represent the ancestors of all of today\u2019s fishes and other vertebrates!<\/p>\n How does something like the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf affect hagfish (and other deep-sea animals)? <\/strong><\/p>\n JD:<\/span> We still aren\u2019t sure how the Gulf oil spill will affect the deep sea, but scientists are currently trying to find out. Several spots on the deep-sea floor near the Horizon rig were long term study sites for scientists.\u00a0 These places held cold-seep communities where natural gas was slowly seeping out of the mud and fueling bacterial growth which then provided food for many strange creatures like tube worms, clams, white squat lobsters, and many others.\u00a0 These communities may now be smothered in heavy tar or poisoned by oil dispersants.\u00a0 Only time will tell but we will get a good idea because of all the studies that went on before the spill happened.<\/p>\n How long have you been studying hagfish\/deep sea fish? Do you study them from shore, a ship, a sub? What are you studying now (what is your research about)?<\/strong><\/p>\n JD:<\/span> I\u2019ve been studying deep-sea fish for 16 years. I study them in the laboratory, from ships, and from submarines.\u00a0 Right now, I am studying deep-sea fish diets and their metabolism.\u00a0 (Metabolism is how fast an organism uses energy.) In order to understand how deep-sea fish are connected to other parts of the ocean like the surface waters for example, we need to know what they eat.\u00a0 Knowing how much they eat is related to their metabolism or pace of life.<\/p>\n The deep-sea is the biggest habitat on earth. So its animals are very important to how the whole world works and stays in balance.\u00a0 For instance, many of its animals provide food for things we eat like tuna and swordfish (they like to eat deep-sea squid and lanternfishes).\u00a0 Fishermen are fishing deeper and deeper taking species like grenadiers and Chilean seabass, deep-sea species we know very little about.\u00a0 Deep-sea animals are also very likely to be hurt by climate change but we still don\u2019t know how such changes would affect the ocean ecosystem as a whole.<\/p>\n Back to WhaleTimes Hagfish Day!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hagfish Day Star Expert Interview Jeffrey Drazen and the\u00a0Hagfish Hi Hagfish Day Fans, We’re excited to have Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, a biologist who studies deep-sea fishes join us to share his thoughts on two of our\u00a0\u00a0 Hagfish Day stars, the hagfish and the\u00a0 barreleye.\u00a0 He was kind enough to answer them to help us understand … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whaletimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/HAGFISH-Hagfish-Day-Copyright-2013-RA-Musgrave-All-Rights-Reserved.jpg\")
\n<\/a><\/p>\n**A special thanks to Dr. Drazen for helping us celebrate Hagfish Day. Dr. Drazen’s research is supported by the National Science Foundation (BIO-OCE #0727135)<\/h5>\n