World’s loneliest fish left heartbroken & alone at closed down aquarium gets cardboard cutout friends to ease boredom
Share:
A SUNFISH that was literally dying of loneliness has been saved with a group of cardboard cutouts friends keeping it company. The fish became unwell when the Kaikyokan aquarium where it lives in Shimonoseki, southern Japan, was temporarily closed for renovations in December.
![[Sunfish in an aquarium tank with merchandise displayed in the foreground.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/sunfish-kaikyokan-aquarium-yamaguchi-japan-965266426.jpg?strip=all&w=480)
It refused to tuck into its usual jellyfish diet and began mournfully rubbings its body against the walls of glass tank. Mai Kato, who works at the aquarium, told Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun that the sunfish, which arrived at the aquarium a year ago, had a "curious" personality and would usually "swim up to visitors when they approached the tank".
![[Ocean sunfish in an aquarium with merchandise displayed in front of the tank.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/sunfish-kaikyokan-aquarium-yamaguchi-japan-965266713.jpg?strip=all&w=696)
Keepers had various theories for what might be dampening its spirits, including a case of parasites or digestive issues - but these diagnoses were proved wrong. When content, the fish enjoys waving its fins around in the water. With suggestions running dry, the staff even resorted to waving themselves to try and coax a reaction - but to no avail.
![[Kaikyokan aquarium exterior.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/google-streetview-kaikyokan-aquarium-965278215.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Then, one staff member had the idea that the fish might be missing the human visitors that usually appear on the other side of the glass. They revealed on X that initially they "thought 99% chance 'No way!'" was that the fish's issue. It was a bizarre theory, but workers at the aquarium decided to test it out as a "last resort".
![[Two fishermen posing with a large sunfish on a trawler.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NINTCHDBPICT000500971492.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
