Become a Member ![\\"snopes](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\"/) Search My Profile Logout Submit a Rumor Latest Trending News & Politics Entertainment Fact Checks Quiz Sections Latest Trending Fact Checks News Collections More Contact Us Submit a Rumor Archives Quiz FactBot Newsletters About Us Categories News & Politics Entertainment Science & Technology Lifestyle Free accounts support our journalism Become a Member Login My Profile Logout ![\\"republican_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/republican_symbol.png\\"/) Snopes fact-checked the vice presidential debate live! Read more here ![\\"democrat_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/democrat_symbol.png\\"/) Fact Check # Does This Picture Show a Shark Swimming Down a Highway After a Hurricane? ## A much-repurposed photograph of a shark swimming down a flooded highway after a hurricane is a fake. ### David Mikkelson ### Published Aug. 28, 2011 Updated Aug. 21, 2023 ![\\"\\"](\\" Claim: A photograph shows a shark swimming down a highway after a hurricane. Rating: False About this rating An image purportedly documenting a shark swimming down a highway flooded by hurricane-related heavy rains was originally circulated as showing a street in Puerto Rico just after Hurricane Irene hit that island in August 2011: > Why You Shouldn\'t Swim After a Hurricane > > Advertisement: > > This picture was taken in Puerto Rico shortly after Hurricane Irene ravaged > the island. Yes, that\'s a shark swimming down the street next to a car, and > this is exactly why authorities in NYC are warning people not to go swimming > in flood waters after a hurricane. Sharks go where fish go, and fish go > where water goes, and if that water (and those subsequent fish) happen to be > right outside your front door, then guess where that freakin\' shark\'s > going to be?! > > > ![](\\" > > Advertisement: Since then the same image has been recirculated several times over, typically localized to some big city in the United States that has just experienced a hurricane or other weather event producing heavy rains and floods. Its most recent iterations assigned it to Houston after heavy rains pounded portions of Texas over Memorial Day weekend in 2015, Daytona Beach after Hurricane Matthew approached Florida in October 2016, and Houston again in August 2017 after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey caused massive flooding throughout the city. Then and now, the photograph is a digital hoax. The image of the shark was lifted from a 2005 photograph of a kayaker being trailed by a great white shark and pasted into a photograph of a flooded street: ![](\\" Advertisement: ![](\\" Advertisement: ![](\\" Advertisement: ### By David Mikkelson David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. ## Article Tags Shark Animals Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Florence Recommendations Advertisement: ![\\"Snopes.com\\"](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\") Company About Us FAQs Contact Us Submit a Topic Navigate Home Search Archive Newsletters Random Sections Latest Top Fact Checks News Account Join Login Game FactBot Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter © 1995 - 2024 by Snopes Media Group Inc. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com Terms of Use Privacy Policy DMCA Policy
A photograph shows a shark swimming down a highway after a hurricane