Newsus newsTexasHouston

No, There's Not A Shark Swimming On The Freeway In Houston

But the Internet has it's own ideas how that might look.
Graeme Demianyk
By 

Senior Editor, HuffPost UK

LOADINGERROR LOADING

As thousands of people await rescue in Texas on Monday as heavy rains poured into the area surrounding Houston, the US was in the midsts of one of the most dramatic flooding disasters in its recent history.

Yet while there was scores of pictures emerging of catastrophe and solidarity, it wasn’t enough for some on social media who were sharing images that were just not true.

Most striking was the image depicting a shark apparently swimming freely on one of the city’s freeways. It is, put bluntly, a fake.

The tweet where the ‘story’ appears to have emerged has been shared thousands of times.

Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas. #HurricaneHarvy pic.twitter.com/ANkEiEQ3Y6

— Jason Michael (@Jeggit) August 28, 2017

Many people went with ‘not’.

I do not believe it, because it is an old, obvious fake https://t.co/qFlIiorLrt

— James Cook (@JamesLiamCook) August 28, 2017

It's a Photoshop that has been around for years https://t.co/lC2gfKrjiK pic.twitter.com/iRMU7Kbmp1

— James Cook (@JamesLiamCook) August 28, 2017

The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News and The Daily Beast among many others called it out.

In fact, the image was first shared during Hurricane Matthew which battered the Florida and Georgia coasts last year, and was dubbed a hoax at the time.

Many others on Twitter were not taking it especially seriously.

Believe it or not, I just passed this on the M62 earlier this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/yp4SFcqkNy

— hrtbps (@hrtbps) August 28, 2017

Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas. pic.twitter.com/0948AS4g6z

— Brendon Hope (@BrendonHope) August 28, 2017

if you see a photo of a shark swimming down a freeway in Houston it is fake, the real one has a Texans hat on and is holding a beverage

— THICC KEN (@edsbs) August 28, 2017

Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas. pic.twitter.com/SWkdtkmhTm

— TittyBiscuits. (@dawneywawney) August 28, 2017

Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas pic.twitter.com/1HnsJG7aTz

— Al Murray (@almurray) August 28, 2017

Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas. pic.twitter.com/h8o0nPLUSr

— David Whitley (@mrdavidwhitley) August 28, 2017
|
Submit a tip
Close

What's Hot