One more time, y'all: There are no sharks swimming in Irma's floodwaters
Oh freeway shark, we wish we could quit you.
A photo of a shark swimming on a flooded freeway made the rounds on social media during Hurricane Irma. But those affected by Irma flooding needn't worry about sharks—the photo is fake.
A shark photographed on I-75 just outside of Naples, FL
This is insane. #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/cRBDsRJQsF— Maury Page (@mopage19) September 10, 2017
Published in National Geographic in 2005, the original photo of the shark was actually taken by photographer Thomas Peschak in South Africa. But it gets frequently doctored and recycled whenever there's a massive storm.
SEE ALSO: No Fox News, Houston is nothing like 'Sharknado'
When Peschak took the photo, he was in the ocean — not a city street — observing the great white from a kayak. Which sounds terrifying, but at least the shark was safely in the ocean where it belonged.
Now, hoaxsters take the shark out of open waters and plop him onto freeways whenever and wherever streets are flooding. Over and over.
Irene
Sandy
Joaquin
Harvey
Matthew
Irma
This shark has been everywhere! https://t.co/kfzYtbC8oq— Greg Diamond (@gdimeweather) September 11, 2017
The edited photo most recently appeared in the Twitter melee during Hurricane Harvey — and this time around, Twitter was quick to point out the shark's amazing powers of cross-country teleportation.
Amazing shark swims from Hurricane Harvey to Hurricane Irma. Where will it swim next! pic.twitter.com/1K4XyYTYlX
— (((Josh))) (@Tyrangiel) September 11, 2017
Speaking of... Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in #Miami #Florida #hurricaneimra #Irma2017 pic.twitter.com/wLBlAiCKNu
— Rex Kramer® (@RexDangerSeeker) September 11, 2017
Truly iconic. An inspiration. I've seen this same shark swim up a different highway after a major hurricane for 12 YEARS. How does he do it? https://t.co/zMpAvhTPgI
— Raychel Briggs (@RaychelBriggs) September 11, 2017
Have we considered that this shark may just be trying to find its family? Matthew. Sandy. Harvey. Now Irma. #GetHimHome https://t.co/4P4ie5n1z8
— Stephen Port (@realstephenport) September 11, 2017
So while Irma may have sucked up the sea and created urban oceans across Florida, it didn't pick up any great white sharks with it — Sharknado was on the SyFy Channel, remember?