We've seen a lot of heartwarming videos about people (and animals) receiving prosthetic limbs on the Internet. The opportunity for someone to gain some much-needed mobility through the use of a prosthetic is always a touching experience to behold. This, however, is probably the first time we've ever seen a fish receive a badly needed prosthetic.
In this video, Dr. Martin Haulena, head veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium, and Dr. Lesanna Lahner, of the Seattle Aquarium, perform surgery on a yellowtail rockfish to give the seafaring fella a brand new prosthetic eye to replace the eye it had to have removed due to cataracts.
If you're thinking, "What? A prosthetic eye for a fish? Why would a fish need a prosthetic eye?" don't be surprised. Most people have no idea that this is even possible, let alone necessary.
As Dr. Haulena explains in the video, while the surgery is partly a cosmetic affair, it's also an important step in keeping the rockfish safe. When a fish is blind on one side and missing the eye there, other fish will be more prone to act aggressively towards him because they view them as sick or weak. You could even call it fish-bullying!
The doctors actually performed the exact same surgery on a copper rockfish as well, which we see swimming confidently at the end of the video. How cool is that?
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