Penguins and Otters Refusing to Eat Cheaper Fish Is the Kind of Energy I Need Today

A video has been going around online that shows a penguin refusing to eat the fish he’s being offered. It’s not because the penguin’s sick or anything like that, it’s because his handler is giving the good boy lower-quality fish than what he’s used to eating. The same, apparently, goes for the otters, who are so displeased that they drop the fish on the floor and walk away. The level of guilt I’d feel if such a cute animal responded to be with that level of judgment is indescribable.

What’s going on with the fish?

According to Hilary Hanson over at HuffPost, “Hakone-en Aquarium in the country’s Kanagawa prefecture has typically fed its penguins and otters Japanese horse mackerel, but has started switching some of it out for a cheaper kind of mackerel.” The fish switch-up is because of the rising costs of horse mackerel due to inflation – something we can all relate to these days. The betrayal I feel from gas stations right now is absurd. “[The penguins] take it into their mouths at first, but then they decide they don’t like it and drop it,” aquarium head Hiroki Shimamoto told Agence France-Presse.

The penguins aren’t the only ones. While the above tweet shows a clip of the penguins turning their heads away in a silent attempt to shame their handlers, a longer video reveals that the otters aren’t putting up with this blatant display of disrespect, either. The otters are a bit shadier than the penguins, actually dropping the fish onto the ground and walking away. Good for them, to be honest.

They really are refusing to eat. Bless.

So what’s the solution to the issue? Are the animals just not getting any food that they’ll eat? Actually, according to Hanako Montgomery over at Vice, those who don’t eat the cheap fish are given the higher quality fish they’ve been eating this whole time. “For the ones who refuse to eat the new fish, we just give them what they used to eat,” the zookeeper said.

Good. Y’all shouldn’t have changed it in the first place. Out here thinking they wouldn’t notice the difference. I’m printing out that picture of the pissed penguin and taping it to my wall like a motivational poster.

As to be expected with a story like this, Twitter has been having a blast sharing reactions. Everyone’s team penguin/otter, of course – as they should be. We could learn something from the pengies and the sea pups. Don’t put up with the bullshit they feed you.

(Featured image: YouTube screencap)

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Briana Lawrence

Briana (she/her - bisexual) is trying her best to cosplay as a responsible adult. Her writing tends to focus on the importance of representation, whether it’s through her multiple book series or the pieces she writes. After de-transforming from her magical girl state, she indulges in an ever-growing pile of manga, marathons too much anime, and dedicates an embarrassing amount of time to her Animal Crossing pumpkin patch (it's Halloween forever, deal with it Nook)

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