Description: Viral image / Hoax
Circulating since: June 2012
Status: Fake (see details below)
Examples of captions posted on Facebook, Tumblr, and via Twitter:
The collapse of the sharks tank in the Scientific Center in Kuwait. Which caused chaos between staff and visitors!
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The collapse of a shark tank at The Scientific Center in Kuwait. Share this because it's probably the only time in your life you will see something like this.- - -
Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the subway.- - -
A shark tank broke open in a Kuwait mall!- - -
Giant shark tank collapses in Kuwait. Sharks end up swimming in shopping mall lobby.
Analysis: Another exercise in Photoshoppery. The original, undoctored photo, taken on the concourse between Toronto's Union Station and Royal Bank Plaza during flooding caused by heavy rains on June 1, 2012, shows an inch or two of water, at most, covering the floor (look closely at the two men standing to the left in the original image).
No sharks.
So, where did they come from? One of them, we know, was cut and pasted from the same famous image plundered to create the August 2011 hoax purporting to show a Great White Shark prowling a flooded Puerto Rico street during Hurricane Irene (compare images). The source of the other one hasn't turned up yet.
More shark tales:
• Pic of Shark Swimming in Flooded Puerto Rico Street
• Photo of Shark Sneaking Up Behind Divers
• Shark Attacks Helicopter!
• Are Vending Machines Deadlier than Sharks?
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Sources and further reading:
Viral Shark Photo Turns Out to Be a Hoax
Discovery News, 15 June 2012That Facebook Pic You Shared of Sharks in a Subway Isn't Real
MSN Now, 16 June 2012Twitterverse Meme on Union Station Flood
Toronto Sun, 2 June 2012Union Station Meme Floods Social Media
CBS News, 1 June 2012Flood Cripples Toronto Subway Ahead of Rush Hour
Reuters, 1 June 2012
Last updated 06/21/12
