Latest news with #MountainstoSeaConservationTrust
South China Morning Post
20-03-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
From world's ugliest animal to New Zealand's fish of the year: the blobfish's surprising win
The blobfish may not win any beauty contests, but it has taken the crown as New Zealand' s fish of the year. Advertisement How the tide has turned for what was declared the world's ugliest animal in 2013. The competition, organised by Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust to raise awareness about New Zealand's marine life and fragile ecosystem, received 5,583 votes. The blobfish emerged victorious, receiving nearly 1,300 votes and defeating its closest competitor, the orange roughy, by nearly 300 votes. 'Renowned for its unfortunate frown and decidedly squishy disposition when pulled from the depths, Kiwis have shown they truly believe that blob is beautiful,' the trust said, according to Otago Daily Times. Advertisement Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust co-director Kim Jones told the newspaper it was 'a battle of the deep sea forget-me-nots. A battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line.'
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Once dubbed ‘world's ugliest animal', blobfish crowned New Zealand's Fish of the
KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — The blobfish, once labelled the 'world's ugliest animal', has now won New Zealand's Fish of the Year, beating contenders like the longfin eel and pygmy pipehorse in the annual competition. The Guardian reported that the deep-sea species, Psychrolutes marcidus, is found in the highly pressurised depths off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia. Unlike most fish, it lacks a swim bladder, full skeleton, muscles, or scales. Instead, its body is made of gelatinous tissue with a lower density than water, allowing it to float just above the seafloor. Believed to have a lifespan of up to 130 years, the blobfish is slow-moving and relies on an ambush strategy to catch prey. 'It sort of sits there and waits for prey to come very close and practically walk into its mouth before it eats them,' said Konrad Kurta, a spokesperson from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, which organises the annual competition. The report further stated that the fish first gained international attention over a decade ago when a crew member on a New Zealand research vessel snapped a photo of the rarely seen species. Its unique, droopy appearance quickly became an internet meme. Kurta explained that while the pressure of deep-sea water maintains the fish's natural shape, bringing it to the surface causes decompression, making it appear distorted. 'Regrettably, when it is pulled up, that sudden decompression causes it to become all disfigured,' he reportedly said. While little research has been done on its conservation status, the blobfish's population and habitat are considered vulnerable due to deep-sea trawling, particularly for orange roughy. The Fish of the Year contest, launched in 2020 and inspired by the popular Bird of the Year competition, saw a record-breaking 5,583 votes this year, compared to 1,021 last year. The blobfish won with 1,286 votes, narrowly beating the orange roughy, which had backing from Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, and the Environmental Law Packard, a spokesperson for the Environmental Law Initiative, welcomed the blobfish's win, saying, 'From an ecosystem perspective, a win for blobfish is a win for orange roughy.' New Zealand is responsible for about 80 per cent of the global orange roughy catch, with environmental groups regularly calling for a halt to deep-sea trawling due to its impact on marine ecosystems. Other contenders in the competition included the longfin eel, a pygmy pipehorse, and several critically endangered fish said the contest aims to raise awareness of New Zealand's diverse marine and freshwater fish, with about 85 per cent considered vulnerable. 'That these fish exist is often the first step to getting people invested and interested in what's happening below the waterline.'
Sky News
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
The blobfish: 'World's ugliest animal' named fish of the year in New Zealand
The blobfish, described as the world's ugliest animal, has been voted fish of the year in New Zealand. The creature, which grows to about 12 inches (30cm) long, is known affectionately as Mr Blobby and is the official mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. It has a bulbous head, and loose, flabby skin, and lives in the deep sea, mainly off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia, the Australian island of Tasmania, and New Zealand. The blobfish topped the annual poll by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, an environmental non-profit group, winning almost 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes. The animal, which has a gelatinous, tadpole-like body, benefitted from a late surge in support to overtake the endangered orange roughy, another deep sea dweller, by nearly 300 votes. In their natural habitat, on the seabed at depths of about 2,000ft to 4,000ft (600m-1,200m), blobfish resemble any other fish. But when brought to the surface, where the water pressure isn't high enough to maintain their shape, blobfish morph into mushy creatures with an unfortunate appearance. The trust's co-director, Kim Jones, described the competition as "a battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line". The winner's late run benefitted from the backing of two New Zealand radio hosts, Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn, who encouraged their listeners to vote blobfish. "We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines," the broadcasters said. They said the animal "has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is!" A spokesperson for the Environmental Law Initiative, which sponsored the orange roughy in the race, said it had "no bloblem" with the result, stressing that it's "still a win" for deep-sea ecosystems and can help raise awareness about the environmental impact of destructive bottom trawling. The longfin eel, the whale shark and the great white shark were among the other fish in the top 10.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Blobfish named New Zealand's Fish of the Year 2025
March 19 (UPI) -- New Zealand's Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust announced the Fish of the Year 2025 competition was won by the blobfish, a species once voted the "world's ugliest animal." The blobfish, famous for its unusual appearance once removed from the pressures of deep water, came out nearly 300 votes ahead of the "swimmer-up," the orange roughy, organizers said. The Fish of the Year competition, voted on by members of the public, aims to highlight and promote conservation of New Zealand's native underwater species. The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust said 5,583 votes were cast for Fish of the Year 2025, a sharp increase from 1,021 in 2024. The blobfish's campaign for the spotlight was spearheaded by More FM Drive hosts Sarah and Flynny. "We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines. The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusk to come through to eat. He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is," the hosts said in the trust's announcement. The blobfish was previously most famous for being voted the "world's ugliest animal" in a vote organized by Britain's Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013. Other fish appearing in New Zealand's top 10 included the longfin eel, tuna, whale shark, big-bellied seahorse, great white shark, lamprey and piharau.
USA Today
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
The blobfish, 'bullied his whole life,' named fish of the year in public vote
The blobfish, 'bullied his whole life,' named fish of the year in public vote "It's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun." Show Caption Hide Caption Small ocean creature hatches in woman's hand A couple walking along a St. Pete Beach in Florida came across an unusual egg, a clearnose skate fish hatched and swam off. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially in New Zealand. A New Zealand-based environmental nonprofit, the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, announced over the weekend its annual "Fish of the Year" winner, which was none other than the blobfish. "The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusk to come through to eat. He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is," radio show More FM hosts Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn said in a news release. More than 5,500 New Zealanders participated in the "Fish of the Year" competition, up from 1,021 in 2024, the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust reported. What is a blobfish? The flathead sculpin, commonly known as the blobfish, gained widespread popularity after it was named the world's ugliest animal during the 2013 British Science Festival. The blobfish is recognizable for its pink blob-like body, droopy, downturned mouth and large, saggy nose. Over the past decade, the fish has been made into countless memes, appeared in different forms of media and of course, sold as squishy plush toys. But the blobfish isn't all the "blobby" in it's natural habitat. In the cold, dark depths of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans − between 1,970 to 3,940 feet deep − the blobfish looks quite different, more like a "normal" fish, in fact. Scientist Richard Arnott told National Geographic that the fish only looks so gooey because of rapid depressurization when its brought to the surface. At the depths the blobfish resides, the pressure can be a hundred times stronger than on land, according to National Geographic. At around 3,280 feet down, human lungs and other air-filled spaces would collapse. To survive under this pressure − literally − the blobfish's body has a high water and fat content. Jelly-like flesh makes the blobfish less dense than water, allowing it to easily move around, according to National Geographic. Blobfish are known as lie-in-wait predators, meaning they lay on the seabed, waiting for anything that passed by to eat up. This allows them to preserve energy. As for reproduction, blobfish reproduce in groups, laying about 100,000 eggs in each nest, National Geographic states. Blobfish parents stay close to their nests as their eggs develop. Are blobfish endangered? Blobfish are not listed as an endangered species, but human activity has caused an increased amount of danger to the fish's livelihood. Deep-sea fishing and bottom trawling, when a weighted fishnet is dragged across the sea floor, are considered some of the blobfish's key predators. What is the Fish of the Year contest? Started in 2021, the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust's Fish of the Year competition serves as an educational opportunity for New Zealanders to learn more about marine life who may be endangered or live in a fragile ecosystem, the trust's website states. In 2021 and 2022, the Eagle Ray took home first place. In 2023, the Oceanic Manta Ray won and last year, the Spotty took home the crown. Who were the Fish of the Year runner-ups? According to the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, the top nine fish, following the blobfish were: No. 2: Orange roughy No. 3: Longfin eel and tuna No. 4: Whale shark No. 5: Big-bellied seahorse and manaia No. 6: Great white shark and mangō taniwha No. 7: Lamprey and piharau No. 8: Spine-tailed devil ray and whai Rahi No. 9: Basking shark and reremai No. 10: Blue cod and rāwaru Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@
