The world's ugliest animal is celebrated as New Zealand's fish of the year
The blobfish, a deep-sea creature that has been described as the world’s ugliest animal, was named New Zealand’s Fish of the Year.
Beauty is in the eyes of Mr. Blobby’s beholders.
The blobfish, a deep-sea creature, has been described as the world’s ugliest animal because of its gelatinous, tadpole-like body. But voters in a New Zealand contest were having none of it, naming the blobfish — known affectionately as “Mr. Blobby” — New Zealand’s fish of the year this week in a competition held by an environmental nonprofit group.
Organized by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, the annual event seeks to educate the New Zealand public about the wide variety of fish and the fragile state of the freshwater and marine environments they live in.
The blobfish, which lives mainly in waters off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia, the Australian island of Tasmania and New Zealand, emerged victorious with almost 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes in this year’s nail-biter of a race. It enjoyed a late surge in support against its fellow deep-sea dweller the orange roughy, which had been in the lead but ended up losing by almost 300 votes.
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.”
Rating: 5