Fact Check: Image of orca in flooded streets of Florida was MORPHED
Prominent among them are a video of a shark swept into the streets at Fort Myers in Florida. Another image of an orca (killer whale) swimming in the streets is also going viral with the caption that due to heavy rains and streets getting flooded, an orca got out of its enclosure (Sea aquarium) and is swimming in the streets.
Hurricane Ian turned Florida into a disaster zone what with more than 2.5 million residents being shifted to emergency shelters after almost the entire city was submerged in seawater.
At this time, several images and videos of sea creatures being sighted in the streets of the city are being shared on the social media.
Prominent among them are a video of a shark swept into the streets at Fort Myers in Florida. Another image of an orca (killer whale) swimming in the streets is also going viral with the caption that due to heavy rains and streets getting flooded, an orca got out of its enclosure (Sea aquarium) and is swimming in the streets.
In the image, the orca can be seen swimming on the road while vehicles are moving on the other side of the road.
The caption claims "To all my peeps in Florida: I hope you are okay! I've seen some photos of a shark in the flooded streets or an alligator, but here's an orca! Stay safe!!"
There is one tweet published on September 27, 2022.
Fact check:
The claim is FALSE and the image has been morphed.
Hurricane Ian flooded Florida completely and the Category-IV storm affected more than 1.8 million people but there had been no reports of an orca being sighted in Tampa bay or surroundings.
When we enlarged the image, we were able to understand that the image has been manipulated.
After searching for the viral image using Google reverse image search, we found that the same image was viral in the year 2020 also, when Miami was flooded.
When searched further, we found the original image of the orca shared by Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society towards protection of oceans.
Therefore, the image shared is a modified one with the orca picture added into the flooded streets. The original photograph does not show the orca on a flooded street in Tampa Bay, or a flooded street in Dallas, or in Miami. The claim is FALSE.