Aquariums star whale shark shocks visitors because it turned out to be a robot

It was a whale of a fail.Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the water park: A Chinese aquarium was ripped by angry fans after its much-hyped giant shark was revealed to be a robot.The “deep”-fake occurred at the Xiaomeisha Sea World in Shenzhen, which opened on Oct.1 following a five-year renovation, Jam Press reported.During its week-long dry run, the 645,000-square-foot ocean zoo attracted around 100,000 visitors, who paid around $40 to enter the wet wonderland.Visitors were eager to check out the theme park’s star attraction, a whale shark, the world’s largest fish, capable of attaining over 60 feet in length.However, many felt cheated after realizing that the so-called regal sea beast was actually just a mechanical doppelgänger.Photos taken through the tank glass show the fishy robot, which sports obvious gaps in its torso where its segments have been connected, evoking a prop from a cheesy SyFy channel shark movie.Outraged over the great white lie, park-goers flooded Xiaomeisha with a sharknado of criticism online.“The venue isn’t large enough, and even the whale shark is artificial,” griped one disillusioned whale shark watcher online.

“By 3 o’clock, people were already demanding refunds.”“The most disappointing part was the whale shark exhibit,” wrote another on the social media platform Xiaohongshu.“When I heard the name, I was full of anticipation, but when I arrived, I saw a mechanical whale shark.

It’s not interesting at all.”Xiaomeisha reps have since addressed the criticism, claiming that the robo-shark — which cost millions of Chinese yuan to construct — was not devised to “catfish” visitors but rather to adhere to laws banning the trade of whale sharks.This shark tale didn’t make the artificial fin-telligence easier to swallow, however.

“Even though it’s for the sake of animal protection, I’d rather they didn’t have one at all than show a fake one,” griped one.The same critic took issu...