ishidai

When you dive in the same place many times, you sometimes become familiar with specific fish.

For example, the striped beakfish in the photo below. I met this fish while diving several times off the coast of a research facility in Awa-Kominato, Uchibo. We were aware of each other and interacted almost every time I dove, so I think it's safe to say we became acquaintances (laughs).

I would enter the water, snorkel out toward the open sea, and then switch to SCUBA to descend to the seabed where the reef ends.

Within five minutes, this striped beakfish would appear. It probably comes around when it hears the sound of my regulator's exhaust. Eventually, I grew fond of it and started crushing nearby shellfish and sea urchins for it, and it even began eating them when I held them out in my hand.

This diving site was not open to the public, but I later heard that budding researchers frequently dove in the same area and had named this striped beakfish "Ishimatsu." I thought it was a great name that conveyed the fish's personality and our relationship.

Many people have experienced that when you spend time getting to know various animals, you can feel a distinct personality in each individual.

Even in the wild, there seem to be personalities like "friendly" or "fearless," and such individuals can be surprisingly bold or (seem to) actively try to interact.

In human terms, I suppose you could call that a social or extroverted personality. I once met a researcher who asserted that such personality traits are deeply related to the evolution of that animal.

If being friendly or social—the ability to lower the walls around oneself through communication skills—can influence the future of a species, then what awaits humanity in the current trend of acquiring new types of communication tools every day? (A bit of an exaggeration, haha)

#The photo shows a striped beakfish swimming leisurely right in front of me. It's within arm's reach because of the wide-angle lens / October, 1977; NIKONOS+15mm