An aquarium’s ‘cheap fish crisis’ sparks hilarious penguin hunger protest in Japan

Inflation, once an alien economic term for many, has unfortunately become a concerning reality at present. Whether it's manufacturing, construction, or transportation, the significant rise in prices has made it difficult for businesses to operate smoothly, leading to large-scale customer dissatisfaction. To navigate the unpredictable market landscape, many companies have resorted to impetuous cost-cutting measures, trying to keep their businesses from going bankrupt. While these reckless retrenchment plans might help in maintaining operations, they also affect company assets, restricting growth, and annoying the public. That's exactly what happened at a Japanese aquarium when they forced the penguins and otters to eat cheaper fish because of inflation.

As per a report by CNN, the aquarium — home to more than 30,000 animals — initially gave penguins "aji," or Japanese horse mackerel, but because of global economic downfall, they could no longer afford it. So, to reduce expenses, the Japanese aquarium switched to a low-grade alternative — saba, or mackerel, which wasn't received well by the penguins. In a video shared on WFAA's official YouTube channel, aquarium staff could be seen struggling to feed the penguins the low-quality fish. As she moved the fish closer to their beaks, the penguins turned away, clearly disappointed with what they were being fed. Forget eating; the penguins didn't even look at the offered fish! Their message was seemingly clear: Give us our fancy food back, or we would rather stay hungry! To tackle the situation, the Japanese aquarium came up with an innovative solution.

They shared that in order to make the penguins happily accept their food, they mix it with their favorite aji, the premium fish. "Ideally, they would like to have a full aji, but they are patiently eating mackerel," aquarium keeper Hiroki Shimamoto shared. Further, the worker also talked about how they could raise the aquarium fee to overcome inflation, but they would not compromise on the facilities for their guests. "We could raise the admission fee to the aquarium and fix this issue, but we would like to do our best to keep our facility a comfortable place for our guests to visit. We do not plan on raising admission prices," he said. Moreover, Shimamoto shared that all animals at the aquarium are just like a family, and they do their best to keep them happy and safe. "We would never force any animal to eat what they don’t want. We would like to have as many people (as possible) come and visit Hakone and enjoy our animals," he revealed.

In another story, Haley Buckland, who goes by @sykotic_girl on TikTok, captured how her dog refused to eat until she recited a prayer with him. When Buckland brought food for her dog, he didn't move from his place even after she kept the bowl at its usual place. "Go eat it. As a matter of fact, because you all don't believe," Buckland said while trying to push the dog towards the food. At one point, the dog's owner even managed to push him towards the food bowl forcefully, but the puppy was too adamant and didn't even budge from his place. "You need to pray, right, you need to pray," Buckland said, and her dog began wagging his tail, happy that his mother finally understood his dilemma. Finally, when the woman recited the small prayer, her dog immediately dashed towards his food and started eating it.