Nature

Diver Develops Friendship with a Fish That Has Lasted Two Decades

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Japanese diver Hiroyuki Arakawa has taken special care of a Shinto shrine in Tateyama Bay placed 56 feet under water for over 25 years. During his time tending to the shrine, he took notice of a particular fish called a Asian sheepshead wrasse living at the gate who he named Yoriko.

“If you look closely, from the front, they look like they have a human face. When you look really close, you’ll think it looks like someone you know,” Arakawa said insightfully about the large, odd-looking fish in a video by Great Big Story.

Over the past two decades, Arakawa and Yoriko have become close friends. Atlas Obscura says he only needs to knock on a piece of metal near the shrine, and Yoriko immediately comes out to say hello. They swim around one another, take selfies, and seem to really enjoy one another’s company.

In the sweet video showing how the pair interact, Arakawa explains that during one visit he noticed Yoriko had fallen ill with an injury. He hand-fed the fish crabs every day until it was healed. “I guess she knows that I saved her…for me to be able to do that, I’m proud,” Arakawa told Great Big Story.