'Lonely' fish shown pictures of humans to cheer it up during aquarium closure

An aquarium in Japan has come up with a creative solution to cheer up a “lonely” sunfish who is missing humans during the venue's closure for refurbishment.

Staff at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki, Japan noticed that its solitary sunfish was showing signs of distress after the facility closed for a refurb in December.

The huge sunfish, which weighed 28kg when it first came to them around a year ago, stopped eating its usual food of jellyfish and rubbed its body against the side of the tank when the flow of visitors stopped.

Staff initially thought that the sunfish could be suffering from a parasite or from digestive issues, but someone pointed out its change of behaviour could be due to the sudden absence of visitors, and the vibrations and noise from construction.

So, they came up with a genius solution by providing large cardboard cut-outs of human “visitors”, along with clothing, that they stuck to the tank.

According to local media, after just one day, the sunfish regained its appetite and began eating normally again.

“It may have become lonely due to the sudden absence of visitors, which could have contributed to its health issues,” an expert told the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun.

According to an aquarium staff member, the sunfish has been one of its main attractions for visitors and it seems the love is reciprocated.

“It’s curious and would swim up to visitors when they approached the tank,” Mai Kato, a member of staff said.

She added: “I hope many people take interest in the sunfish, and when the renovation work is finished, I’d like visitors to wave to it in front of the tank.”

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