gills

Two years later, in August 2022, scientists witnessed a similar sequence: five orcas pushed a young white shark onto its back, causing it to bleed from the gills.

For more than an hour, I lost myself in a flow state as I sought to replicate the slender mushroom’s fine gills and delicate but ragged skirt.

The ikejime process involves taking live fish that has just been caught and quickly putting them out of their misery by killing them with a spike through the brain and cutting their gills.

“They have gills that help them breathe underwater,” she explained, holding a microphone next to the tank, adding that the axolotl can change colors to hide.

With shelters and rescues stuffed to the gills, an influx of pets is “another impact to an already stressed system,” Berke said.