Fact Check: Bird in the viral video was not carrying a shark

Hyderabad: A video showing a bird flying over a beach carrying a fish with its legs has gone viral on social media. The video claims that the fish was a shark.

A Twitter claim reads, "A bird carrying a shark. Where you sit on the food chain isn't always obvious - a clear warning to the present administration on how quickly you can be voted out. (Sic)"

The video was also tweeted by former American basketball player Rex Chapman and an article was carried by The Indian Express.

The video was also viral on Facebook.

Fact Check:

Extracting certain key frames from the video, we did a reverse image search and found an article published by ABC news on July 3. It says that the video is from Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. According to the article, the bird in the video is Osprey. The article reads, "While the sea creature might be large, Ed Piotrowski, chief meteorologist with local media outlet WPDE, said it's actually a large Spanish mackerel being carried by an osprey."

It also states that the video was shot by Tennessee native Ashley White from the 17th floor of an apartment where she was enjoying her vacation. The video was shot by her on June 22.

Ospreys are large birds with long legs. These birds hover over the shallow waters and catch fish with their legs as seen in the viral video.

The fish being carried by the bird is a Spanish Mackerel which is a commonly found sea fish. The fish grows fast and can weigh up to a maximum of 13 pounds.

Hence, the claim that the bird was carrying a shark is false. The bird is carrying an easily found Spanish Mackerel.