Not just humans but animals are also heavily affected by the coronavirus. For instance, usually, when the garden eels at a Tokyo aquarium remove their heads from the sand, they see a bunch of humans staring at them through the glass.

Calacademy

As per The Guardian, the coronavirus has changed this and now the eels at Sumida Aquarium are finding their surroundings very different than usual. Now, they also appear to be forgetting what a person looks like.

Concerned with the fact that in future, the garden eels could completely forget how humans look and can see them as a threat, the aquarium is asking people to get in touch on video calls.

Time Out

The official Twitter handle of the aquarium, housed in Tokyo Skytree, said, “They don’t see humans, except keepers, and they have started forgetting about humans. Garden eels, in particular, disappear into the sand and hide every time the keepers pass by.”

Time Out

The aquarium wrote, “Here is an urgent request, Could you show your face to our garden eels from your home?” and named the event a “face-showing festival”. 

Usually, garden eels are sensitive and wary by nature, the 300 eels that are living in the aquarium’s tank had adapted to the environment and rarely hid when approached by humans.

Tokyo Creative

To reconnect these eels with humans, the aquarium is setting up five tables which will be facing them, with people asked to connect via the FaceTime app using the emails listed on the website

On the video calls, people are asked to show their faces, wave and talk to them. The festival, which is scheduled for 3-5 May, has attracted lots of online support.

SoraNews24

The aquarium has been closed since that start of March and the garden eels are getting used to a largely human-free environment, however, that is expected to change soon.