Viral: Fish in aquarium in Japan gets cardboard friends to cure depression

Reproduction X

To prevent the fish from feeling lonely during renovations, an aquarium in Japan placed cardboard visitors to keep it company.

The Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Japan, has been closed to the public since December 2024 for major renovations, and as soon as the work began, the sunfish fell ill for no apparent reason.

According to a report by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the creature stopped eating and started rubbing its body against the tank. Initially, aquarium staff thought it could be a digestive issue, but they soon began considering other possibilities.

In a post on X, the aquarium revealed that the team had difficulty figuring out why the fish suddenly stopped eating. “The sunfish was feeling a little unwell right after the closure,” the post noted.

“We didn’t know the cause and tried several things to handle it, but one of the staff members said, ‘Maybe it’s lonely without the visitors?'”

Sunfish are solitary creatures but very curious. They are harmless and known to approach divers without any fear. To test if loneliness was causing depression in the marine creature, the team stuck some staff uniforms to the side of the tank.

To everyone’s surprise, the fish displayed completely different behavior the next day. The aquarium team then printed out some “visitors” on cardboard to keep it company.

The photo published by the aquarium shows the cutouts facing the tank and the uniforms stuck to the glass. Thanks to the team’s creative solution, the fish overcame the unexpected isolation and began eating again and staying healthy.

The sunfish is one of the largest fish in the world, reaching up to 3 meters in length and weighing over 2 tons. It gets its name from its round shape, which resembles Earth’s only natural satellite. It is a gentle creature and lives in the warm and temperate waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.

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