Aquarium Visitors in China Shelled Out Big Bucks to See the World's Longest Fish. It Was Actually a Robot

A Sea World in China is in hot water for duping customers into thinking its main attraction, one of the world's largest fish, was legitimate when it was really just a multi-million dollar robot.

Five years ago, Xiaomeisha Sea World in Shenzhen, China, closed for renovations on its 645,000-square-foot facility, according to Dimsumdaily Hong Kong. Over 100,000 eagerly paid $40 to see the aquarium's new attractions, including a whale shark, which is the world's longest fish, but quickly asked for refunds when they realized the 20-meter fish was mechanical.

Visitors said the gaps in the whale's torso gave away that it wasn't real, and they cited the attraction was a "fraud" when they asked for their money back, Dimsumdaily Hong Kong reported.

Xiaomeisha Sea World representatives said in their response that the robotic whale was used because the trade of whale sharks was banned. They said they never intended to catfish visitors as the reproduction cost millions of dollars to build.

Recently, a zoo in China also came under fire for painting dogs to look like pandas. The jig was up when visitors noticed the dogs were panting.