FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A Shark Swimming In A Sydney Train Station In July 2022?

Hannah Hudnall | Fact Check Reporter

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a shark swimming in a flooded Sydney subway station.

Facebook/Screenshot

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

The image is digitally edited. The original photo is from 2014 and does not feature a shark.

Fact Check:

Residents in low-lying suburbs of Sydney, Australia were urged to evacuate following floods triggered by heavy rainfall, according to Reuters. Some areas were hit by as much as 35o millimeters of rain since July 2, the outlet reported.

The Facebook image, garnering over 170 reactions, appears to show a shark swimming in a flooded subway station as a man in a yellow jacket looks on. “Sydney aquarium staff on their way to deal with this at a Sydney train station today,” the post’s caption claims.

The image is digitally edited. A reverse image search revealed an unedited version of the photo first appeared in a 2014 article from the Daily Mail. Notably, there is no shark visible in the picture. The photo’s description states it shows emergency workers attempting to drain the flooded Lewisham train station in Sydney following a massive spring rainstorm.

The same picture was shared on Twitter in October 2014 by the Australia News Network.

“JUST IN: Lewisham Train Station in the Inner West of #Sydney has been flooded amid severe storms.” No shark is mentioned in the tweet. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Sharks Swimming In A Pennsylvania Mall?)

Another angle of the flood at Lewisham train station was published on Twitter by the Today Show with the caption, “#Lewisham train station looked like an Olympic Swimming pool or something out of Titanic.” 

This is not the first time altered, flood-related photos have spread online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a viral image that appeared to show a shark swimming on a flooded Louisiana highway during Hurricane Laura.

Hannah Hudnall

Fact Check Reporter

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