An aquarium in China has been slammed over its new whale shark attraction with furious guests demanding a refund ‘on-site’.
Xiaomeisha Ocean World in Shenzhen re-opened to much fanfare earlier this month after a five-year renovation.
The 60,000 square metre sea park attracted about 100,000 visitors during its seven-day trial run.
But many were left feeling short-changed after its star whale shark attraction turned out to be a robot.
Snaps taken through the large tank’s glass show how the sea creature is clearly a man-made imitation, with gaps in the body visibly showing that different pieces have been joined together.
Visitors were reportedly furious after paying the equivalent of £30 a ticket to see what was actually a robot.
One wrote in a scathing review: ‘The park isn’t big enough, even the whale shark is artificial.
‘By 3pm, people were already calling for refunds on-site.’
Another reviewer wrote: ‘The most disappointing part was the whale shark exhibit.
‘When I heard the name, I was full of anticipation, but when I arrived, I saw a mechanical whale shark.
‘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.
‘It’s not interesting at all.’
The same visitor also criticised the sea park’s live fish, writing: ‘The fish care was not professional enough.
‘I noticed that some of the fish in the tanks had white spots.
‘Most people wouldn’t notice, but anyone who’s kept tropical fish knows that’s white spot disease.
‘Some of the fish didn’t appear to be in good health.’
Xiaomeisha Ocean World said it had put the robot on display because live whale sharks are now prohibited from being traded.
The whale shark is the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual was 18.8 meters long.
The robot shark reportedly cost millions of Chinese yuan to build.
Xiaomeisha Ocean World is not the first Chinese animal park to leave visitors feeling defrauded.
This is not the first time an animal adventure park has faced backlash in China.
Last month, a Chinese zoo sparked fury after it painted dogs black and white and presented them as pandas.
Visitors said they became suspicious when the ‘pandas’ started panting in their enclosure.
When quizzed, the zoo admitted that they had dyed two Chow Chows, a type of dog from northern China with a thick coat.
The zoo, however, denied they misled people as they never claimed the dogs were pandas, explaining instead they were ‘panda dogs’.
Visitors have since demanded their money back from the park in Guangdong Shanwei which says it is home to ‘rare and exotic animals’.
Also, Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province also sparked fury in May when it too allegedly dyed two small Chow Chow dogs to look like pandas.
These dogs had their fur trimmed short before black and white dye was added to their face and body.
The attraction was quickly slammed by locals who accused the zoo of animal cruelty
The zoo defended showing the ‘panda dogs’ as they don’t have any of the actual animals for visitors to see.