Story highlights Space World's manager says the fish were dead when frozen into floor

The skating rink will be unfrozen, and a "religious service" held

(CNN) A Japanese theme park which froze 5,000 sea creatures into the floor of an ice rink was forced to close the attraction on Sunday after a public backlash.

Fish, crabs and other shellfish were embedded in the ice as part of a special winter attraction, called "Freezing Port," at Japan's Space World theme park.

The park advertised it as a "world first" and posted images of the fish on its official Facebook site with captions including "I am d... d... drowning, s ... s... suffocating."

Space World manager Toshimi Takeda told CNN Monday the reaction on social media had been brutal once news of the attraction was broadcast on local television.

"We were shocked to hear the reaction as the ice skate rink was very popular since it opened two weeks ago, we had an unprecedented number of visitors," he said.

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