Phin, the Mentally Disabled Shark, Fails To Be Scary, But Has the Time of His Life in a Home Aquarium and is Now Hilariously Famous on TikTok

Typically when you imagine a shark, you think of a sleek, streamline ocean predator with rows of razor sharp teeth, excellent senses, and a silent-but-deadly swim style.

Welp, that’s not DEFINITELY not Phin.

Aly Ruiz, an avid TikToker with a massive home aquarium full of sharks, has acquired a particularly strange pet to her collection. Phin is a smooth hound shark, which is a small breed of shark that you might see in the fish tank of a Russian oligarch or an eccentric mobster, but Phin is out here crushing stereotypes left and right.

Wander over yonder

Phin has become famous because he has a neurological disorder that was brought on by having a brain parasite when he was still a young shark. If he were in the wild, he certainly would not have lived very long after surviving the parasite because his simple neurological functions were stunted, which are critical in the hunting, movement, and survival of this ocean beast.

For Phin, living in captivity has proven to be an excellent way for him to continue life. Aly spoils him and films him doing his crazy dances all over the tank.

Contrastingly, Aly also has a second shark (yeah, I know… wut?) that is a black fin shark, which are certainly larger and more aggressive as a breed. This second shark, the black fin, makes Phin look like the most docile and silly creature in the ocean. The black fin fulfills the scary Jaws stereotype, while Phin mostly just makes us giggle.

When you have two sharks with opposite personalities

I’m not sure what it’s like having two sharks, let alone ONE shark, in my home, but Phin definitely steals the show with his flip flop and flying display of jolly merriment. Sure he may struggle with some things in life like, swimming regularly, feeding like a normal shark, and having a sharky girlfriend, but Phin seems to be having the life he deserves.

Besides, we could all use a friendly shark figure in our lives. Not all sharks are bad, and without a doubt, there are none out there as jolly and silly as our beloved Phin.