Some say that dogs are man’s best friend, but they clearly haven’t met scuba diver Rex Colubra and his fish buddy, Elvis! According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, these two first met in the Wisconsin lake that Elvis calls home. He took a shine to Rex, and they’ve been swimming alonside each other every time the human stops by. Of course, it helps that the diver usually brings a snack for his bestie!
Videos by InspireMore
“My closest friend is a fish,” wrote Rex in an Instagram caption.
Elvis is a smallmouth bass. Rex explained in a TikTok post that he can tell his friend apart from the other fish by a “unique mouth disfigurement” sustained from a fishing hook. According to the diver, it’s not uncommon to see these animals swimming around with old facial injuries. That’s why Rex decided to give up recreational fishing and take up snorkeling instead!
Before this human could be friends with fish, he had to give up catching them.
In his emotional caption, the swimmer explained how one underwater excursion changed his perspective on aquatic life forever. As Rex observed the fish around him, he realized two things. First, he noticed that these animals were incredibly sweet and smart. Next, he saw just how many of them had been mutilated by fishing gear. That’s when he started to see fish as his friends rather than his prey.
“Since then, I traded my tackle box for goggles and haven’t been happier,” Rex wrote. “I’m all for hunting and fishing for food, when done ethically, do it myself, but there’s no real justification for me to hurt these animals for my amusement anymore. It’s far more rewarding to swim with them.”
Swimming with Elvis has become one of Rex’s favorite pastimes, which you can clearly see in the adorable clips he posts with the smallmouth bass on TikTok!
Watch the video below to see the sweet relationship between a human diver and his fish best friend.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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