Train Your Brain to SIFT

CAN YOU TRUST IT?

Story 3: Toronto Shark Escape

A fictional social media post.

This tweet claims rogue sharks escaped from a Toronto tourist attraction! But is it true? Stop and take a moment. Use your fact-checking skills by starting with a news search to find coverage you can trust.

Find Trusted Coverage 

A story like this would definitely make headlines! Search Google News for coverage to see what you find. Anything? 

Try typing in “sharks escape aquarium.” There are no relevant results.

Trace Back to the Original 

Since there is no trusted coverage, it’s likely this shark story is a hoax and should not be shared. But where did the image come from? Has it been shared in other hoax stories? Do some digging with a reverse image search using a site like Google Images or Tin Eye. 

Browse the links that come up in your search, particularly the Snopes article. The image originated as a depiction of Toronto’s Union Station after heavy rainfall caused a flood. It was digitally altered to include sharks as a prank. The image later went viral on the other side of the world, captioned with a claim about a shark tank collapse at a science centre in Kuwait.