Are Fish Conscious?

 I want to share an unusual story with you about fish and whether they have a level of consciousness.

When my wife, Elizabeth, and I purchased the property where we’ve now lived for 15 years, it had a raised fishpond next to our deck. The fishpond was full of huge goldfish and a Koi. 

Over the years, fish would go belly up because they had died. We’d then take them out of the pond and bury them in the back yard.

Recently, I was looking out of our bedroom window and saw that a fish was belly up, so I thought it had died. While I was watching, I noticed another fish next to it and as I watched, the second fish turned around and whacked the first fish with its tail.

The fish, which I thought was dead, flipped over and swam to the bottom of the pond. 

Over the last month, I’ve seen the two fish do the same behavior many times. When the first fish was belly up, the second would whack it with its tail. Again and again, the first fish would turn over and swim down to the bottom. It’s as if the second fish is encouraging the first fish to not give up and to keep living.

I’ve also noticed several of the goldfish and the Koi would gather around the fish that was belly up kind of attempting to encourage it to stay alive. In all the years of our having the fishpond, I’ve never seen the fish all cluster like that. 

Oh, and as of today, the fish is still alive.

So…does something we view as dumb have a level of consciousness to help its friend of many years? It makes me stop and think and be glad that I’m a vegetarian!