We received a tip that a seal-like creature had appeared in the Tsuto River, where a huge number of mullet had been spotted!!
(This tip came from Bito-san. Thank you!)
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A seal in the Tsuto River!?
I had to read the email twice😳💦 If it really was a seal, that would be huge news, the kind TV crews would show up for!!
Here’s the photo we received↓

Hmm🤔?
Is this a capybara? A nutria??
We had to check it out!! So we headed to the site〜🚲

Completely empty〜
We looked around a fairly wide area, but the creature in question seemed to be out〜😑
We went back another day, and↓

The spot that had been packed with mullet was also completely empty〜😱
Maybe they were washed away by the heavy rain a few days earlier, because even the mullet were gone!!! What!!!
We widened the search area again, and then…

There was no mysterious creature, but there was a small group of mysterious large fish! (yellow circle)
Judging by the shape, they really looked like those mullet! But they were about the same size as a crucian carp or carp (white circle)!
They were even bigger than the Eurasian coots!

It hasn’t even been a month since our last visit, so could they really have grown this much!?😳
Or are they a different kind of fish!? (If so, the Tsuto River is a treasure trove of living creatures!)
The mysterious creature was out again that day〜!

This photo was taken outside the city, but I think the animal we got the tip about was probably this nutria🤔!
When I took the photo, it was so cute that I ended up watching it for a while😆
Here’s the map↓
The area we searched was along the Tsuto River, roughly between the JR railway tracks and the Hankyu railway tracks.
In Closing
Nutria are cute, aren’t they〜😊 It was a shame we couldn’t see it..
But nutria are an invasive species, and finding one can make things a bit complicated, so maybe it was better that we didn’t run into it..😅
And we’re curious about those mysterious fish too! If you know what they are, please let us know〜🙏
Bito-san, thank you for the tip!!
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