I must have been doing something wrong years ago when I had goldfish as pets. Inevitably, and sooner than later, the little swimmers all ended up floating at the top of their bowl before taking a swirly trip to heaven via the flushing funeral.
I considered the goldfish less hardy a survivalist than Kim Kardashian doing a solo climb up Mt. Everest.
However, two goldfish in Christchurch, New Zealand proved that the breed isn’t necessarily overly delicate. The pair was discovered alive 134 days after the devastating earthquake of February forced their owner to abandon them in a damaged building. Vicky Thornley, the director of the business office in which the survivors swam, was kept out of the building for safety reasons until July 6 when she was allowed into her office to collect her personal belongings.
Thornley was pleasantly surprised to discover two of the original six fish still swimming in their 26-gallon tank despite spending the past four months without food or energy to run the filter on their aquarium.
Though they didn’t fry them up like a bitter ex-spouse, the survivors may have gnoshed on their fellow fish after they died, according to an aquarium expert.