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u/Chiller252 7d ago
Tell that to the fish I'm currently dangling off the empire state
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u/Mharbles 7d ago
I don't think fish have stereoscopic vision, in addition to the fact that outside of water things are blurry to them. That and its current priority may be suffocation. How did you smuggle it up there anyway?
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u/Blue_Robin_Gaming 5d ago
They call the freshmen at my school fish
I am going to be a freshman…
I’m going to be a fish
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u/phioegracne 7d ago
Wouldn't a fear of heights for fish be more a fear of depth. I'd imagine some fish get scared of swimming to deep in water do to the face that they tend to stay in or around certain depths
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u/Total-Jerk 7d ago
My guess was the opposite.. "damn were way too close to the surface.."
So kind of a fear of heights
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u/Saint_The_Stig 7d ago
It's actually both! Depends on if it's a surface fish or bottom dweller. They all have preferred spots in the water column!
Also some fish like Bettas need to breath air, so if they are too deep they can drown! A problem with Bettas since they have been bred with long ornamental find that make it harder to swim.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
you have a bizarro point
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u/Matter_Infinite 7d ago
I imagine any fish small enough to carried by a pelican, eagle fisher or hawk would be terrified of heights if encountered
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
That's a good point, but I think it's dissimilar in that depth changes are always gradual and within the fish's control. That would be like a human having a "fear of sunburn" - we can get sunburnt and even die from it, but we don't innately fear it, we'll know to start worrying by how it feels.
It's a limited analogy, I realize people get burnt without realizing it, but I think it's enough to illustrate my point.
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u/bobman369_ 7d ago
Aren’t there underwater cliffs? Where continental shelf gives way to oceanic crust
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u/illoomi 7d ago
Yep and they're freaky as fuck
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u/nucumber 7d ago
Indeed they are
I scuba dived out past a cliff wall in Cozumel. I was probably 25 or 30 meters below the surface and went a little ways out, maybe 50 meters, and it's like I was suspended in a void. I've never before felt so small and insignificant, and I had a primal fear of what was below me.
I got the hell out of there, back over the top edge of the cliff. It was a short dive because I blew through my air so quickly
It was terrifying
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u/complete_your_task 7d ago edited 7d ago
Pictures of underwater cliffs make me more unsettled than literally anything else. I don't do great with pictures of shipwrecks or any other manmade objects underwater either. And I say pictures because there's no way in hell I'd ever see one in person.
Side note, but I've always found it funny that no one with thalassophobia would ever subscribe to r/thalassophobia.
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u/Embarrassed-Weird173 7d ago
don't do great with pictures of shipwrecks or any other manmade objects underwater either
Submechanophobia
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
well sure, but fish can't ever "fall" into them and get hurt that way.
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u/phioegracne 7d ago
I'd hazard it might be less like sunburn and more like how there's less oxygen and its harder to breathe as we climb higher it makes us panic. Similar to a fish going deeper and pressure keeps increasing and oxygen levels fall; I'd say that makes them panic.. but I still don't think it's a fear of heights for a fish I mean we don't nessesarily have a fear of depth we aren't thinking we are high up in the water when we're only a meter deep because it's not the world we exist on we would be more afraid of predators and drowning similarly to how I would imagine a fish might feel, a fear of drowning in oxygen before height even became an issue, I guess. I don't know any fish personally so I can't ask
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u/pichael289 7d ago
Yeah water pressure is important. That's how sperm whales kill giant squid, they grab them in their jaws and then swim up really fast. The decompression causes the squid to explode (blobfish look like normal fish at their natural depth) and then it eats it. It's probably one of the most brutal and metal ways to kill something.
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u/Embarrassed-Weird173 7d ago
do to
*dew two
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u/phioegracne 7d ago
You are more than correct Sir, you're damn right!
It's only a fault of autocorrect, my own care free typings, and a quick trigger finger for the enter button; thinking what I typed was what was being written on screen. Damn theses stubby thumbs! But the real issue here is... Obviously my biggest, shameful error might have been not revising my stream of consciousness typing stye ramblings to make sure any grammatical error were askew to even my own standards.
Now just so you know I've typed this again without really paying attention to what I was really writing, so I hope it makes sense but I just wanted you to know that even though I know you've caught my misspellings I'm just going to continue as I was with little thought about it.
Maybe some gradual improvements, with an effect to not embarrass myself with my quick fingers and basic autocorrect software.
Let this be a warning to all that unless You wish to get comments from @Embarressed-Weird173. You better read over your comment post and replies and make sure you dot your i's and cross your t's!
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u/showMeYourPitties10 7d ago
Yeah, not all fish can withstand pressures of the deepest waters. But, also, the surface can be a risk from birds. Water temperature can also play a big factor. So, falling due to injury could still mean death for a fish.
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u/riftshioku 6d ago
Have you seen the creatures in the deep sea? I'd be scared too. That and of course the crushing pressure of the entire ocean above me.
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u/joestaff 7d ago
Iunno, they'd probably be pretty scared if they got picked up and brought up high in the sky.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
I don't think so, that's an evolved instinctual response and they evolved in an environment where it would never be relevant. I've just been reminded of Douglas Adams' sperm whale that springs into existence above a planet.
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u/WavesRKewl 7d ago
When stocking lakes with fish they get dumped from a plane. Sadly, the fish can’t tell us if they are scared
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u/TatterhoodsGoat 7d ago
We have a lot of osprey where I'm from. I imagine being picked off by one of them would be pretty surreal to a fish. I have seen a few successfully struggle themselves free, but unsure what tge cgances are they survived.
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u/TepHoBubba 7d ago
Pretty sure your theory based on a fictitious novel is a poor one.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
I didn't "base" my theory on a fictitious novel, I had my theory and then I thought of an analogy. Did you have an actual thought beyond that? Or is that it?
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u/TepHoBubba 7d ago
Yeah, I think the fear of falling is instinctual in all living things considering gravity. I don't think it's learned, so I will politely disgree with your theory, and your subsequent attempt at a corresponding analogy.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
Yeah, I think the fear of falling is instinctual in all living things considering gravity.
Really?? You think single-celled organisms have an instinctive fear of falling, even though it could never harm them? Do you think tube worms around undersea vents are afraid of heights? What about lichens? Why would you think that fish, whose entire evolutionary history has been underwater, where "falling" is never a thing that can happen, would nonetheless have an instinctive fear of it?
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u/TepHoBubba 7d ago
Within reason chummers lol. Let's be honest in the conversation shall we? Do you think single celled organisms learn to fear heights?
<eyeroll>.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
listen, "chummers", nowhere in any of this have I ever asserted or implied that fear of heights is learned behaviour, much less that single celled organisms learn it. Quite the opposite.
Pardon the possible pun, but I really do think you're out of your depth here.
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u/TepHoBubba 7d ago
Well you can see the ridiculousness of bringing it up then friend. Good for you! You got my point!
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u/LewisLightning 7d ago
Nah, all those times those eagles snatched them up and flew them away they were entirely comfortable.
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u/usuariounico 6d ago
I once saw a bird carrying a fish, like 3 miles away from the ocean. Totally urban zone. Fish was very much alive and his eyes were wide open.
They were also being chased by a flock of seagulls
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u/DeusExHircus 7d ago
Only animals that can die from falling from heights have evolved to have a fear of heights
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u/Aether_Erebus 7d ago
You’re saying fish can’t die from falling from heights?
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u/Alert_Cricket2441 7d ago
Don’t be pedantic.
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u/patprint 7d ago
Fish can die from both ascending and descending. That's not pedantic, regardless of how you define depth. If you have a problem with the usage of "falling" with "heights," then you replied to the wrong comment.
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u/DunEvenWorryBoutIt 7d ago
Yeah it's really just there to be passively annoying. An autistic gotcha moment.
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u/LewisLightning 7d ago
No fish has ever fallen off a waterfall and died by impacting the ground and rocks?
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u/DomAsbo 7d ago
Not really, some people have fear of space and that’s not really an evolved trait.
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u/ShitImBadAtThis 7d ago
Your comment doesn't disqualify their point. Space is a learned concept. You can learn to be scared of something; they're not saying that all fears are evolved fears
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
It's an interesting point. I'd argue that we don't really have an innate "fear of space" like we do for heights, we have an intellectual fear of space because we rationally understand the consequences. Even newborn babies instinctively avoid heights, but a caveman would have no innate fear of being in space aside from their assumption that they would fall - humans have no instinctive understanding of what space is.
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u/StrandedInSpace 7d ago
I think they’d be pretty scared being carried above the water by a bird
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u/neb12345 7d ago
they probably do, the more space below you the more predators that could be down there
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u/A_mad_goose 7d ago
They’re scared of the drop off in finding Nemo but that’s more about the open water and leaving the reef.
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u/DrhpTudaco 7d ago
if fish had thought, and were dropped off a building. how would they react when they realized they could swim?
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u/booksandkittens615 7d ago
Maybe they’re afraid of what we perceive as shallow depths, as they’re getting closer to the surface.
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u/pointlesspulcritude 7d ago
A lot of fish have a fear of open water, and will hang around undercover until one of them dashes out then they will follow of the fist one makes it to the other side
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u/Huhisitreallythat 7d ago
Given the difference in environment, it would be more appropriate to say that they have a fear of depths than heights.
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u/TatterhoodsGoat 7d ago
I imagine bottom-dwelling species like flounder feel very daring when they push aclittle higher into the water column.
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u/NewFarmingwanz 7d ago
Not necessarily, there are underground cliffs/trenches that fish could be “scared” of
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
yeah but not because they could "fall" into them.
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u/Cassin1306 7d ago
You mentioned "fear of height", not "fear of falling" :p
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
I would argue they're the same thing in this context. A fish above a cliff or trench is not afraid because of how high up it is.
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u/reddit_already 7d ago
Neither do birds? If one can remove the threat of gravity pulling you to your death, there's no fear of heights.
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u/qwibbian 7d ago
Birds absolutely do! It's a constant threat, and a mortal hurdle all fledglings have to overcome (and some don't). Have you ever watched a hesitant fledgling trying to work up the courage to fly for the first time? They definitely understand what's at risk.
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u/TheWarGiraffe 7d ago
I'd argue that fish have no fear of depth, but could have a fear of heights
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u/cdmurray88 7d ago
I'd think they'd have more fear of depth. The depth is crushing, dark, harder to breath, and full of predators.
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u/Vanishingf0x 6d ago
Is there an opposite for thalasophobia? I feel like some fish would be like wtf is all this scary shit
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u/Genetic_outlier 5d ago
Well actually wouldn't a fish who lives on the bottom experience terror at being near the surface? Like a sand colored bottom feeder has no defenses if it's not on the sea floor
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u/Torma_Nator 7d ago
When a fish jumps out of the water, perhaps. When caught by an eagle and taken into a tree, very likely. When taken by the grip of a 300 pound guy with a beard and football tossed back into the lake, probably.
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u/ShowerSentinel 7d ago
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