Japanese Diver Befriends Weird-Looking Fish For 25 Years

Among the animals in the world, the dogs and cats are the most typical kinds to care as pets because they are warm, sociable and they display emotions as if they were humans too. As for sea creatures, no one of us probably imagined being best friends with fishes except for that tight relationship we saw between Ariel and Sebastian in a Disney film.

Surely, we have close encounters with dolphins. They let us feed them, they let us swim with them, they cling to us and do some more staff with us. Fishes are not the same. We can put a goldfish in a tank, but they are not as sociable as dolphins. Sheepshead Wrasses though can be different.

This diver and fish have been best friends for 25 years now.

Yoriko, an Asian sheepshead wrasse who lives off the coast of Japan maintained over two decades of friendship with a local diver named Hiroyuki Arakawa. The two has been constantly greeting each other for 25 years now, where Yoriko welcomes Arakawa every time he tends a Shinto shrine under the waves.

The Shinto shrine is a part of the Hasama Underwater Park which is located near Tateyama, Japan. Arakawa manages the shrine with his air tank, goggles and scuba gear. The local diving shop owner regularly updates his Facebook page with stories of Yoriko coming to see him and play with him as he tends the shrine.

Arakawa would call for Yoriko every time he visits the shrine he tends, and the fish would quickly appear.

The diver says he greets back Yoriko with a kiss every time they meet. This interaction basically kept their friendship alive for a long time. Arakawa would also bring groups of divers to see the shrine, and they witness the connection between the old gentleman and Yoriko.

Arakawa never fails to kiss his friend every time they say hi to each other.

Arakawa and Yoriko’s friendship can be an indication that fishes have emotions too. Researchers previously found signals that show some level of sentience in fish. These experts discovered that when zebrafish were exposed to stressors, they exhibited a rise in body temperature which is called “emotional fever.” This fever technically indicates that zebrafish have feelings and a level of consciousness.

Arakawa and Yoriko’s friendship shows how fishes can also have emotions and that their relationship can be as tight as any others.

Prior the study, scientists thought only mammals, birds and reptiles can have an emotional fever. But the researchers of the study later accepted and concluded that even zebrafish can display emotional fever. However, whether such kind of reaction is linked to consciousness remains to be proven.

As of now, Yoriko and Arakawa‘s friendship serves to be a single proof that a bond between human and finned-creatures is possible.

Watch Arakawa kiss his fish friend who welcomes him every time he dives in the video below: