A Japanese aquarium faced a unique challenge when their sunfish began to show signs of illness shortly after the facility closed for renovations in December 2024. Staff at the Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, located in southern Japan, couldn’t initially determine the cause of the fish’s distress. However, one staff member suggested that the sunfish might be lonely and missing the visitors. Though they were skeptical, the team decided to try an unconventional solution—attaching staff uniforms to the fish tank. To their surprise, the fish’s condition improved shortly after. The aquarium shared this story, expressing their initial doubts but also a glimmer of hope in the staff’s creative attempt to comfort the sunfish.
The Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Japan, found an unexpected solution to help their sunfish recover from a period of ill health after the aquarium closed for renovations in December 2024. The fish had stopped eating and was rubbing its body against the tank, leading staff to worry it was suffering from digestive issues or a parasite infection. A staff member suggested the fish might be lonely without visitors, so they tried an unusual remedy: attaching cardboard cutouts of faces and staff uniforms to the glass of the tank. To their amazement, the sunfish regained its health the next day.
The aquarium explained that although a lonely sunfish seemed unlikely, this particular fish was quite curious and used to swimming up to the tank’s front whenever people were around. With visitors no longer coming, the fish’s behavior changed, prompting staff to try and cheer it up in creative ways, including waving at it.
Ocean sunfish, which are found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, are known for their large size and distinct appearance, but this particular sunfish is much smaller. Still, it shares the same unique lopsided, bullet-shaped body and long fins typical of the species.
This wasn’t the first time a Japanese aquarium had found inventive ways to keep animals engaged without visitors. During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Tokyo’s Sumida Aquarium asked volunteers to FaceTime its 300 spotted garden eels, who had become shy without the usual human interaction, making it difficult for staff to monitor their health.