Image of shark at flooded Lewisham station, Sydney, is digitally altered
Image of shark at flooded Lewisham station, Sydney, is digitally altered
(Reuters) - A digitally altered image of a shark at a flooded railway station in Sydney has duped users online, with social media users sharing the image amid severe flooding along Australia’s southeast coast.
One user shared the image on Facebook and said: “What the actual…Sydney Aquarium staff dealing with this situation-has the world gone mad?? (Photo from Twitter)” (here).
An iteration of the image gathered more than 19,000 likes at the time of writing, with a caption that reads: “Sydney aquarium staff on their way to deal with this at a Sydney train station” (here).
Another individual who shared the link to the tweet on Facebook said: “This is crazy...Feel for all my friends and families in Sydney and surrounding areas. Hope you are all safe and well” (here).
Other examples of the image shared on social media can be seen (here) (here) and (here).
The image is digitally altered, however, and the original photograph was taken years before the 2022 floods.
A reverse image search shows that the photograph was published in outlets including The Daily Mail in October 2014, where no shark is viewable (here).
Another angle of the flooded Lewisham railway station in Sydney was uploaded by Australia’s The Today Show on Oct. 14, 2014 (here).
Australia’s southeast coast has been hit with torrential rain, forcing thousands of people from their homes because of the danger of floods and landslides in a region battered by major flooding four times in the past 18 months (here).
VERDICT
Altered. An image of a shark at a train station is digitally altered, with the unaltered original captured at Lewisham station in October 2014.
