Aquarium sticks human photos in “lonely” sunfish tank

A gregarious sunfish that was reportedly missing its human audience during the temporary closure of its aquarium in Japan has been comforted in an unorthodox way.

In a photo posted by the Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the sunfish is seen swimming in front of photographs of human faces attached to a row of uniforms.

The move was a “last resort” to resolve the sunfish’s health problems, which one staff member believed were due to loneliness, the aquarium said on its X account earlier this month.

And apparently it worked. “It seems that he is in good health again!” the aquarium wrote in X the next day.

After the aquarium closed for renovations in December, the sunfish stopped eating jellyfish and began rubbing its body against the tank, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Monday.

Some staff initially suspected it was a case of parasites or digestive problems, but one of them suggested the fish might have been lonely without visitors appearing in its tank.

Found in all the world’s oceans, sunfish are a delicacy in Japan. It is believed that they can live up to 10 years in captivity, although it is not common to find them in aquariums due to the meticulous care needed to house them.

The sunfish in Kaikyokan is about 80 cm long (31 in) and weighs almost 30 kg (66 lb).

Staff member Mai Kato told the Mainichi Shimbun that the sunfish, which arrived at the aquarium a year ago, had a “curious” personality and would “swim toward visitors when they approached the tank.”

After the photos and uniforms were uploaded, the fish “felt better” the next day and was seen “flapping its fins” in the tank, the aquarium said in its X post.

The post received great support from social media users. Some shared photos and videos they had taken of the sunfish on previous visits, and others promised to go see it when the aquarium reopened.

This is not the first time that a Japanese aquarium has come up with innovative solutions to entertain the animals in its care.

During the pandemic, when zoos around the world reported that their animals were Feeling lonely due to lack of visitors.a Tokyo aquarium organized a “Emergency” video call event for your eelswho believed he had become uncomfortable around humans after not seeing them for a long time.