The wildest thing about the story to me is the sunfish was from the wild and got used to people to the point of missing them in less than a year in captivity.
I think they have a camera feed for the sunfish at @montereyaq.bsky.social? Not quite the same but also kinda parallel (feeling better after you interact with the image of a thing?)
This is actually really heartbreaking. I can’t go to zoos or aquariums anymore. At the very least, it should be illegal to keep large and/or social animals in the criminally small cages they have in US zoos. It’s animal abuse and literally drives some animals insane, eg Gus the polar bear, RIP.
The last time I went to an aquarium, I got really depressed by an octopus that had plastered himself to a window because I was thinking that he was trying to get out. Cheers me up to think that actually he was super into interacting with visitors.
octopuses really like exploring, so more so looking for a new area to explore than to escape the area they are in. So that one is probably trying to figure out how the strange 5 limbed starfish got into that space.
I’ve always had an idea that certain zoo animals, i.e. elephants, should have performance stages built into their enclosures so humans can give them little concerts and do dance routines and close-up magic tricks and shit. Let them be entertained by us for once.
Comments
“The staff now visit more often and wave at the sunfish.”
but I suspect it is also likely he behaved like that because he did want out 🙁❤️🩹
- they could escape any time
- they recognize individual humans
- they have the capacity for spite
I fucking love them