by A.P.
TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Dressed in a Santa Claus costume, a mask and flippers, a diver waved through a curtain of tropical fish in a Tokyo aquarium at socially distanced spectators watching from behind glass.
Continuing a more-than 20-year-old tradition at the Sunshine Aquarium, she held a Christmas wreath aloft as banana fish and a stingray swam by unperturbed, and used a bazooka-shaped feeder to shoot out pellets for them to feast on.
“To be honest, I thought how can you swim in that outfit?“ 42-year-old Keiichi Matsumura, visiting with his wife and four-year-old son, told Reuters after seeing the show, which will continue until Christmas Day.
For Tokyo resident Ayami Kobayashi, 35, the entertainment was all the more welcome in a year overshadowed by a pandemic.
“Seeing the fish made me relax. I know it’s difficult to hold events like these because of the coronavirus situation, but I’m grateful they still held the event,” she said.