Lonely sunfish in Japan gets cardboard human friends

A sociable sunfish who was reportedly missing its human audience during a 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 photos of human faces attached to a row of uniforms.

The move was a "last resort" to solve the sunfish's health issues, which a staff member believed had stemmed from loneliness, the aquarium said on its X account earlier this month.

And it apparently worked. "It seems to be in good health again!" the aquarium wrote on X the next day.

After the aquarium shut for renovation in December, the sunfish stopped eating jellyfish and started rubbing its body against the tank, the Mainichi Shimbun reported on Monday.

Some staff members had initially suspected a case of parasites or digestive issues, but one of them suggested the fish might have been lonely without visitors showing up to its tank.

Sunfish, found in every ocean in the world, are a delicacy in Japan. They are believed to be able to live up to 10 years in captivity, though they are not commonly found in aquariums due to the meticulous care needed to host them.

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

Mai Kato, a staff member, told 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 tank".

After the photos and uniforms went up, the fish "felt better" the following day and was seen "waving its fins" in the tank, the aquarium said in its X post.

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

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

During the pandemic, as zoos around the world reported that their animals were becoming lonely due to a lack of visitors, an aquarium in Tokyo organised an "emergency" video call event for its eels, which they believed had become uncomfortable with humans after not seeing them for a long time.