Lonely moonfish suffers: Aquarium simulates missing visitors

Shimonoseki (Japan) - When an aquarium had to close temporarily due to construction work, a moonfish missed the visitors in front of its glass so much that it became ill.

In December, the Kaikyokan Aquarium in the Japanese city of Shimonoseki closed its doors and will not reopen until June after a forced six-month break.

Until then, the display windows in front of the fish tanks will be deserted - and that doesn't automatically mean relaxation for all the animals. For one poor moonfish, in fact, the opposite.

Shortly after the closure, it was already feeling "uncomfortable", the aquarium operators announced in a post on X. Several measures were then taken to help the lonely sea creature, but initially without success.

An employee's idea finally turned things around: "Maybe he's lonely because there are no visitors?"

To give the moonfish a bit of action again, an ingenious construction was needed: human faces made of paper were glued to the glass pane to simulate the missing visitors. Clothes hangers were placed behind them, on which the aquarium employees' work clothes hang.

The moonfish actually seems to be biting at this optical illusion. Its state of health has now "returned to normal", according to reports.