A gregarious sunfish that reportedly missed a human audience during the temporary closure of an aquarium in Japan has been comforted in an unusual way.
In a photo released by the Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, a sunfish is seen swimming in front of photographs of human faces attached to a row of uniforms.
The move was a “last resort” to address the sunfish’s health problems, which a staff member believed stemmed from loneliness, the aquarium posted on its X account earlier this month.
And apparently it worked. “He seems to be in good health again!” aquarium wrote on X the next day.
After the aquarium was closed for renovations in December, the sunfish stopped eating jellyfish and started rubbing its body against the aquarium, the Mainichi Shimbun reported on Monday.
Some staff members initially suspected parasites or digestive problems, but one of them suggested that the fish may have been lonely without visitors to its aquarium.
Sunflowers, which are found in all the world’s oceans, are a delicacy in Japan. They are believed to live up to 10 years in captivity, although they are not often found in aquariums due to the care required to keep them.
The Kaikyokan sunfish is about 80 cm (31 in) long and weighs almost 30 kg (66 lb).
Mai Kato, a staff member, told the Mainichi Shimbun that the sunfish, which arrived at the aquarium a year ago, had a “curious” personality and would “swim up to visitors when they approached the aquarium.”
After the photos and uniforms surfaced, the fish “felt better” the next day and was seen “flapping its fins” in the tank, the aquarium said in its X post.
The announcement was met with an outpouring of support from social media users. Some shared photos and videos of the sunfish they had taken on previous visits, and others promised to go see it when the aquarium reopened.
During the pandemic, as zoos around the world reported that their animals were becoming lonely due to the lack of visitorsaquarium in Tokyo organized “emergency” video call event for his eelswho they believed had become uncomfortable with people after not seeing them for a long time.
