- We knew zoo animals could get depressed, but who would’ve thought that also applies to fish.
It’s normal to start feeling a bit down when you suddenly find yourself isolated from your friends and loved ones. A lot of people have become regretfully aware of that as the coronavirus quarantine keeps on going.
But who would’ve thought that a fish could also show symptoms of loneliness. We didn’t even know fish were that aware of their surroundings.
But that’s the case with Mikko, a three-feet-long, 35-pound grouper. The 16-year-old fish resides in an aquarium at Sea Life Helsinki, located in the capital of Finland.
We recently covered a story about dogs sniffing out COVID-19 infections at a Finnish airport as well. Seems like there’s something about the ‘Rona and Nordic animals.
Anyway, as the coronavirus hit Finland, Sea Life Helsinki was forced to close its doors to the public. This affected Mikko in a way no one could’ve foreseen – he became depressed.
Yes, science says fish depression is a real thing.
A representative of the aquarium told LiveScience that Mikko lives alone in a large tank without other fish to keep him company. When people stopped visiting him as well, he became “more still and distant than usual”.
So, in an attempt to cheer him up, the staff at the aquarium decided to throw him a birthday party. Whether it was his actual birthday, the story doesn’t tell, but really – it’s an excuse to have a party, who cares?
The birthday boy naturally needed a cake, but frosting and sugar aren’t really in a grouper’s natural diet. So instead, he got a plateful of salmon fillets, which he devoured with great gusto.
Having Friends for Dinner
It’s pretty sad that Mikko has been so lonely lately. But he kind of has himself to blame for that.
As we said, he ate his birthday present with enthusiasm. The problem with Mikko is that he likes eating his friends equally enthusiastically.
The grouper was moved to Sea Life Helsinki in 2007. Before that, he lived in a pet store, but they had to give him up when he got too big for their fish tanks.
Another reason was his ravenous appetite, Sea Life Helsinki’s aquarium curator Markus Dernjatin told the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat. He said that Mikko was purchased by a private aquarium owner, but they returned him to the store when he ate all their other fish.
At Sea Life Helsinki, Mikko gets a meal of small fish and squid three to four times a week. The staff thought that’d be enough to keep him sated, and so he was originally housed in a tank with other fish.
They were wrong.
“We tried keeping Mikko in a couple of different tanks, but there were continuous problems,” said Dernjatin.
The straw that broke the camel’s back came when Mikko ate an incredibly venomous lionfish. Mikko was just fine, though the lionfish was… Less so.
After the incident, the aquarium staff moved Mikko into his own
Just Like Any Other Fish
However, losing his fishy friends didn’t sit well with Mikko. While he was waiting to be put into his exhibition tank, he started showing signs of depression for the first time.
“Even though he keeps eating his buddies, he still likes having them around and seeing movement in his tank,” explained Dernjatin.
Things got better in early 2019, though. Mikko got his own, large tank with things to keep him stimulated. He’s even been slowly introduced to other fish again. So far, he hasn’t eaten the four-inch cleaner fish that swim around in the same tank.
The aquarium visitors also helped. But, as said, Mikko started feeling down again when Sea Life Helsinki closed its doors.
“To cheer him up during the time that we were closed, the caretakers and other staff had lunch and coffee breaks by his tank,” the museum representative told LiveScience.
“They brushed him with a soft brush to activate him a bit, and he also had a TV to keep him company.”
According to Dernjatin, Mikko liked the brushings. He would lay down on his side on the bottom of his tank and change colors.
“You have to remember, though, that Mikko isn’t any more human than any other fish. They all need activity around them all the same,” Dernjatin said.
The Brush Incident
Eventually, in December 2019, the staff had an idea to try whether Mikko would like being pet with a slightly firmer brush. His reaction to that, however, was a bit hard to interpret.
That’s because he decided to eat the brush. This prompted yet another case of drama centered around Mikko.
“There was a huge gulp and the brush was gone,” said Dernjatin. “We thought he’d spit the brush out, but he just kept swallowing it deeper.”
Having a brush lodged in his throat wasn’t too comfortable for the grouper. He would swim up to the staff and open his mouth, displaying the handle of the brush sticking out of his esophagus.
“It really was our screw-up,” admitted Dernjatin. “No one guessed that he’d grab the brush like that.”
So, the aquarium staged an impressive rescue operation. Mikko was too big and strong for anyone to just pull the brush out, so the aquarium had to bring out the big guns.
They emptied Mikko’s tank partially and dumped a whole bunch of anesthetic into the water. Some 15 minutes later, Mikko was floating in the water on his side, knocked out.
After some wrangling, the staff managed to pull the brush out of his mouth. They were concerned that operation might’ve still hurt the fish, but he seemed to bounce back just fine.
His appetite was soon back, and Mikko became as active as ever. Ever since, the staff has had to be twice as cautious around him though.
That’s a lot of hubbub about a fish.