This little guy sets a shining example for goldfish everywhere – people could learn a thing or two from it as well.

Last summer, Hitoshi Takeda of Biratori, Hokkaido purchased two goldfish when visiting Sapporo. However, since the beginning of November, the black one began having trouble swimming properly and spent much of the time lying at the bottom of the tank.

Since goldfish aren’t known for their longevity, Takeda likely thought it would be curtains for the black fish soon after. But that time never came. Something was keeping the fish alive and it didn’t take long for Takeda to discover what it was.

As shown in the video, whenever Takeda goes to feed the pair of fish, the orange one begins pushing the black one up to the surface of the water so it can get at the food. It’s not just a single instance either. The orange fish continues to follow the black one around as if watching over it.

The Hokkaido Shimbun Press contacted the Sunpiazza Aquarium in Sapporo who said that they have never heard of a goldfish acting like this. Many readers of the news were also stunned, but many still refused to believe that such an animal was capable of this behavior.

“I’m crying right now.”

“That’s freaking beautiful.”

“I’m giving up sushi now.”

“You can see the black one try to eat when it gets pushed up. I’m gonna ball…”

“Goldfish don’t have that intelligence. Even an infant can’t sympathize with others.”

“Goldfish are quite smart actually. They can recognize humans.”

“That is just a random pattern that humans are interpreting as help.”

The Vulcan who made that last comment could be right, perhaps we’re reading too much into what could be a random sequence of events. On the other hand, if the orange fish wasn’t helping on a regular basis, it doesn’t seem likely that the black fish would still be alive having developed this disability over a month ago. Maybe now it will live long enough to grow into a giant 25-centimeter behemoth fish.

Either way, it still serves as a reminder to lend a helping hand to those in need. After all, if a fish can do it, why can’t we?

Source: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press via Itai News (Japanese)

Video, images: YouTube/Kometto Channel