The Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi Prefecture), southern Japan, has closed its doors for renovation. But deprived of the public, one of the residents seemed to be wasting away. This is a “sociable” sunfish (or mole), apparently unhappy to no longer have interactions with visitors.
After the aquarium closed last month, the big fish stopped eating its favorite food, jellyfish, and began rubbing itself strangely against the windows, reports the BBC, citing local press. His health and behavioral problems could have come from his feeling of loneliness, according to a specialist there.
Those responsible therefore created a sort of false audience for him. It is a series of clothes or uniforms hanging on hangers, topped by a representation of a human head, made of cardboard…
-A little bit of anything? “He seems to be in good health again!”, however, affirmed on X the aquarium, the day after this strange installation.
This sunfish measures around 80 cm long and weighs around 30 kilos – its congeners can be even much larger. A resident of this aquarium for about a year, he has a “curious” personality and “swam towards visitors when they approached”, according to a member of the establishment.
