An image of a shark is spreading across social media along with the claim that it is swimming down the freeway in New Bern, North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence (since been downgraded to tropical storm.)
It was the image we’ve been waiting for, and yes, it’s completely fake. This shark – perhaps one of the most famous sharks on the Internet – circulates the Internet in the aftermath of the majority of high profile storms that hit the United States.
Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in New Bern, North Carolina. #HurricaneFlorence
We’ve previously discussed this particular shark before a number of times. For example, fake claims had previously circulated that it was swimming down flooded roads in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.
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The same shark also occasionally pops up in another photo claiming to show the aftermath of a shark tank collapse in the Kuwait Scienfitic Center, as you can see below –
As we’ve pointed out below, the original shark was actually comes from a 2005 article from Africa Geographic and showed a great white shark stalking a kayaker.
As such, no the photo doesn’t show a shark in North Carolina. We suspect the shark will make an appearance again once the next big storm or hurricane hits the United States.