It’s mighty cold out. But if Old Man Winter’s reign is getting you down, spare a thought for this trout caught in an extremely unlucky predicament.
The image was taken at a fish farm in Decorah, Iowa by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in 2014, although it has since resurfaced after user yyott posted the image to Reddit earlier this week.
The temperature was reportedly -30°C (-22°F) at the time. The trout is believed to have jumped out the water and hit the wall, where the water on its skin then froze to the subzero wall, holding it in place.
Many fish farms, especially in colder corners of the world, heat their aquaculture ponds. Not only are water heaters added to stop the water from freezing over, but also because temperature affects fish growth rates. The Mpemba effect, the observation that warm water can freeze faster than cold water in some instances, could have also helped freeze and stick the fish before it could fall.
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