A photo of a strange fish washed ashore has got much attention on Kenyan Facebook. The fish has oddly protruded teeth, zebra-patterned scales and fierce-looking eyes.
The caption reads: “This strange aquatic creature was found in a dam between Kericho and Bomet.”
But background details hint that the caption may not be true. The fish lies on white sand common on coastal beaches, not on the shores of Kenya’s inland dams.
A reverse image search credits the image to Roman Fedortsov, a Russian deep-sea fisherman. A look at his Twitter and Instagram accounts reveals countless other odd creatures.
His “crazy” deep-sea discoveries have been reported on CBS News and Gizmodo.
Africa Check contacted Fedortsov about the photo. He said a friend snapped it on Thailand’s Phuket island. He posted one photo of it on Twitter on 4 September 2018, crediting Alexei Yermashov.
He posted the second on 12 November 2018, saying it was from Layan Beach on the west coast of Phuket.
Those were the two images posted on the Kenyan Facebook page with the claim the fish was from a dam between Bomet and Kericho. – Dancan Bwire (26/02/19)
The caption reads: “This strange aquatic creature was found in a dam between Kericho and Bomet.”
But background details hint that the caption may not be true. The fish lies on white sand common on coastal beaches, not on the shores of Kenya’s inland dams.
Photo most likely from Thailand
A reverse image search credits the image to Roman Fedortsov, a Russian deep-sea fisherman. A look at his Twitter and Instagram accounts reveals countless other odd creatures.
His “crazy” deep-sea discoveries have been reported on CBS News and Gizmodo.
Africa Check contacted Fedortsov about the photo. He said a friend snapped it on Thailand’s Phuket island. He posted one photo of it on Twitter on 4 September 2018, crediting Alexei Yermashov.
He posted the second on 12 November 2018, saying it was from Layan Beach on the west coast of Phuket.
Those were the two images posted on the Kenyan Facebook page with the claim the fish was from a dam between Bomet and Kericho. – Dancan Bwire (26/02/19)
Republish our content for free
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment