When it comes to human friendship with animals, many people immediately imagine pets.
But in the wild, there are also inhabitants who need our help.
Even if they live in water.
Hiroyuki Arakawa knows this for sure.
The story of friendship began several decades ago near the Japanese city of Tateyama, in the bay.
Hiroyuki’s job is unusual in that he has to dive into the water every day and maintain a shrine of Shinto (the main religion of the Japanese) under its surface.
One day a man, 30 years ago, saw a sheepshead wrasse while diving.
He later named the fish Yoriko. Friendship between them struck up immediately and both enjoyed their daily meetings.
Over the years, Arakawa saved Yoriko’s life.
Once he noticed that something was wrong with the fish, whether she was sick or injured, but she could not get food on her own.
Hiroyuki, without further thought, began to bring her food – 5 crabs daily, which saved her life.
The fish recovered and the affection grew stronger.
And now the meetings of Yoriko and Hiroyuki are not complete without a friendly kiss.
Someone will find such tenderness unpleasant, but after all, appearance and belonging to a particular species are not so important.
In this case, man and fish live in harmony with nature and with each other. What could be more beautiful than this!
