The powerful earthquake that rocked Hokkaido and knocked out electricity across the prefecture last week also affected aquarium and zoo operations, with one facility losing thousands of juvenile salmon, known as parr, because it failed to maintain the oxygen supply for its tanks.
The magnitude 6.7 quake Thursday came at the worst possible time for Chitose Aquarium, which calls itself one of Japan's largest freshwater aquariums. Just days before the quake, Typhoon Jebi, which ravaged parts of western Japan, approached Hokkaido and knocked over nearby trees, blocking the only road leading to a building where the juvenile salmon were being kept.
The aquarium was planning to remove the trees Thursday with heavy machinery. But the quake came in the early hours that day, with the oxygen supply to the fish tanks then stopping due to the resulting power outage.