Huge fish 'kills itself' after being startled by camera flash in aquarium

An unsettling video of a fish 'killing itself' after being startled by camera flash has resurfaced on social media. Watch the harrowing clip below:

The video, which is believed to have been filmed in 2013, shows the sudden and shocking death of a fish in a Japanese aquarium.

A crowd of people, which are surrounding the giant fish tank, start to take photos with the flash on.

As the camera flashes get increasingly bright, one tuna fish appears to react badly to the constant flashing and reacts by ramming itself into the glass.

The agitated sea creature sadly managed to knock itself out and reportedly died as a result.

Aquarium tanks are usually made out of a highly reflective acrylic material and can negatively affect the vision of the fish on the other side of the glass.

"This is why flash photography should not allowed in aquariums," a Reddit user who posted the clip thought.

"The fish cannot see the glass and think the water continues onward in that direction as the flashes resemble reflective light bouncing off the water."

Reddit/u/29PiecesOfSilver

Viewers were shocked by the footage, with one person commenting: "Every adult has walked into a glass or mesh-screen door at maybe a couple of miles per hour.

"Now, imagine the speed at which that fish swam into the aquarium's dense glass-wall. That is horrific."

Another added: "Wow I'd never seen tuna swim and didn't know they could be that fast. That almost looked unreal."

Someone else wrote: "I think the camera flashes confused it into a feeding response and that caused it to blindly ram into the glass.

"There's a reason why most zoos and aquariums restrict flash photography because it disturbs and confuses the animals."

Reddit/u/29PiecesOfSilver

According to the WWF, some species of tuna are considered to be 'the Ferraris of the ocean' and can swim up to 43 miles per hour.

Despite being able to move so quickly through the water, the Atlantic bluefin, for example, can reach ten feet in length and weigh as much as 2000 pounds (more than a horse).

It's their unique body shape and strong fins which give them 'special swimming muscles' to cruise through the ocean with great speed.

Topics: News, Animals, Fishing

Anish Vij

Anish is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2024 finalist. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

@Anish_Vij