More fake photos have circulated of sharks swimming in waters where they don’t belong.
As we have written, last month a doctored photo placed sharks swimming in flooded Toronto subway station. The photo was later passed off as being evidence of “Shark Tank Collapses at the Scientific Center in Kuwait.” And last August, news outlets published a picture of a shark swimming in a flooded Puerto Rico street after Hurricane Irene. That photo was also phony.
The latest batch of phony pictures place sharks in Tampa Bay’s flooded Bayshore Boulevard. The boulevard “was overcome by flood water” after “Tropical Storm Debby pelted the Tampa Bay area,” My Fox Tampa Bay reported. According to My Fox Tampa Bay, “there are two in particular going viral” — a photo of a shark swimming next to a car and a photo of a shark swimming down a road.
According to My Fox Tampa Bay, the photos “are now floating all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,” and the photo was “posted on MyFoxTampaBay.com’s upload page.” On that page, users can “browse and share your pics and videos.”
The upload site’s “Terms & Conditions” identify it as ” for your personal enjoyment, entertainment and education” and includes a disclaimer that “MyFoxTampaBay does not endorse and has no control over User Content submitted by others to Forums. User Content submitted to Forums is not necessarily reviewed by MyFoxTampaBay prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of MyFoxTampaBay”
One fake photo, as posted on the My Fox Tampa Bay upload page, carries no disclaimer that it is fake and is headlined “Shark seen swimming in bayshore.” That fake photo, of a shark swimming next to a car, appears to be the same photo that was passed off as in Puerto Rico floodwaters last year.
| See above a side-by-side comparison of (left) the fake photo that circulated last year purporting to be a shark swimming in Puerto Rico floodwaters and (right) the fake photo circulating last month purporting to be a shark swimming in Florida. | ||
See here one of the photos on Facebook. The caption reads in part: “Shark on Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa? Real or Fake? Disclaimer: This is a hoax. The image is real. The shark is not.”
Gannett-owned WTSP-10 News noted that the area had another fake photo recently, when doctored photos of a “sea monster swimming in floodwater…near Pensacola Christian College.”