October 19, 2011: 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.”

This year’s Hagfish Day stars are a combination of unusual, endangered, and beauty challenged.  How do you celebrate? Classrooms, individuals and families can participate by making hagfish slime, writing a Haiku, vote for your favorite Ugly Beauty, send a Happy Hagfish bouquet to a friend, or simply learning more about the Hagfish Day stars and the scientists who study them.  It’s sure to be a good slime!

Hagfish Day is always on the 3rd Wednesday of October