Digital Creation Passed off as Largest Blue Whale Caught on Camera

An Instagram user had posted the image on 26 July and mentioned that the photo had been edited using Photoshop.

CLAIM

A viral image on social media claims that it shows one of the largest blue whales to have been caught on camera “during a helicopter ride”. The image showing a whale-like creature under a bridge is being circulated widely on Twitter.

One of the largest blue whales ever caught on camera during a helicopter ride pic.twitter.com/slR1FyZfHp

— Farrukh Shahzad Chauhan (@FarrukhFL) September 21, 2019

the largest blue whale ever recorded was about 90 meters long and that’s around the length of a soccer field so idk bout this one chief https://t.co/dkNIfEuD0A

— harls ⚉ (@Harleeeezy) September 23, 2019

TRUE OR FALSE?

The claim along with the image is false. The image being shared as the largest whale caught on camera is actually a digital creation of an Instagram user by the name of ‘umutrecberart’.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We searched on Google Images using keywords ‘blue whale bridge’ and found an Instagram post shared by a handle called ‘umutrecberart’.

The Instagram user had posted the image on 26 July and mentioned that the photo is a result of a digital manipulation using editing tool Photoshop.

The caption along with the image reads:

“( NOTE: This is my own digital manipulation study. It was created by bringing two photos together. Photoshop was used as a tool. Thanks to everyone who conveyed their best wishes to me for the artwork I have done. I hope you will be pleased with my work. Good day to everyone)”

View this post on Instagram

Mother ( NOTE: This is my own digital manipulation study. It was created by bringing two photos together. Photoshop was used as a tool. Thanks to everyone who conveyed their best wishes to me for the artwork I have done. I hope you will be pleased with my work. Good day to everyone.) _ _ _ Bridge photo: @chuttersnap Whale Photo: @pixabay Edit by me. #LaunchDsigns #learnphotoshop #enterimagination #manipulationclan #photocollage #edit_grams #TheUniversalArt #thecreativers #artshub #artselect #enter_visual_ #Visual_Creatorz #discoveredit #manipulationteam #graphicroozane #natgeowild #ps_wanderlust #photoshop_indonesia #photoshop #thegraphicspr0ject #beyondsurreal #artspotlight #igcreative_editz #photomanipulation #artistic_unity_

A post shared by Umut Reçber (@umutrecberart) on Jul 26, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

In a series of posts, the user further showed the original images and the one edited by the user.

View this post on Instagram

'Mother' step by step before-after. -> _ A lot of people texted me. I wanted to share the steps before and after. Good day to everyone. * Bridge photo: @chuttersnap * Whale photo: @pixabay * Edit be me. _ ▪Note: Don't forget to comment if you want more videos.Thank you to everyone for your interest.. _ #LaunchDsigns #learnphotoshop #enterimagination #manipulationclan #photocollage #edit_grams #TheUniversalArt #thecreativers #artshub #artselect #enter_visual_ #Visual_Creatorz #discoveredit #manipulationteam #graphicroozane #natgeowild #ps_wanderlust #photoshop_indonesia #photoshop #thegraphicspr0ject #photomanipulation #artspotlight #arts_secret #surrealart #artistic_unity_

A post shared by Umut Reçber (@umutrecberart) on Aug 1, 2019 at 8:52am PDT

The user mentioned that the bridge’s photo had been taken from ‘@chuttersnap’ We found that the image was indeed available as a stock image on the handle.

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