Japan's 'Space World' apologizes for freezing 5,000 fish

(CNN) - A Japanese theme park which froze 5,000 sea creatures into the floor of an ice rink was forced to close the attraction on Sunday after a public backlash.
Fish, crabs and other shellfish were embedded in the ice as part of a special winter attraction, called "Freezing Port," at Japan's Space World theme park.

The park advertised it as a "world first" and posted images of the fish on its official Facebook site with captions including "I am d... d... drowning, s ... s... suffocating."
Space World manager Toshimi Takeda told CNN Monday the reaction on social media had been brutal once news of the attraction was broadcast on local television.
"We were shocked to hear the reaction as the ice skate rink was very popular since it opened two weeks ago, we had an unprecedented number of visitors," he said.
"(But) we had endless opinions about the project, we were shocked ... We are sorry for the project and decided to close the rink on that night."
Takeda told CNN the park would unfreeze the skate rink to remove the fish, hold an "appropriate religious service" and then reuse them as fertilizer.
He added the fish were purchased at a local fish market, and were dead before they were frozen.

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