DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
• We’re not sure if it will catch on. An Indian auto engineer has reportedly custom-designed a “COVID-19 motorbike” which keeps the two riders about a metre apart. Partha Saha said he designed the tandem motorbike so he would practice social distancing while on the road. He apparently doesn’t intend commercialising the product but says it’s a useful tool to raise awareness of social distancing.
Some eels in an aquarium which, like those in the Sumida Aquarium, may be waiting to meet you. PICTURE: Julia Goralski/Unsplash.
• There’s a growing number of stories about how animals have been making the most of lockdowns around the world (and some have even been getting a bit too big for their boots – we’re talking to you, Louisiana chicken). But in Japan, it seems the opposite is happening – an aquarium has asked people to make video calls to its increasingly shy eels who are apparently starting to forget what humans are. Keepers at the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo, which has been closed since March, reportedly put out the call last week, asking for volunteers to FaceTime with its 300 spotted garden eels. The call came after staff noticed the eels were starting to bury their heads in the sand (literally) when employees passed by. Those making the calls are asked not to make loud noises which may scare the eels.
• A giant fibreglass dinosaur named Big Kev has been saved from extinction, returning to once more gaze out over the landscape of Australia’s top end. The brachiosaurus had guarded a landscaping supplies store near Darwin since 2007 but was dismantled last year when the store moved on and the superstore chain Bunnings took over the site. With some community fears over his future, he was finally reassembled in a new position this week in a move which has apparently been greeted with much rejoicing in the Palmerston community. A view platform is expected to be constructed around him later this year.
