Claim:

A video shared on social media in mid-October 2024 authentically showed the “world’s largest turtle” crawling along a beach.

Rating:

Context

The video authentically showed a leatherback turtle, the largest species in the world. However, it was shot from a low angle, which made the reptile appear larger than it actually was. This is a photographic trick known as forced perspective.

Footage shared with X on October 14, 2024, it seemed to show (archived) a large turtle gliding along a sandy beach to the amazement of onlookers. Compared to the humans in the background, the turtle looked huge — perhaps explaining the 1.2 million views the video has amassed at the time of writing.

According to Google’s translation tool, the caption, which was written in Thai, read: “This is the biggest turtle in the world. It’s a turtle that has no scales or shell. Have a safe travels!!!”

In short, the video itself was authentic and shows the largest known species of turtle in the world, which is why we rated this claim as true. However, the footage was captured from a low angle, making the animal appear larger than it actually is through a photo manipulation trick known as forced perspective.

There were no signs that the footage was generated using artificial intelligence software. Also, Hive Moderation, a website with an AI detection tool, said there was virtually no possibility that the video contained AI-generated or deepfake content.

(AI content detection with Hive moderation)

The clip seemed to first to be posted by an Instagram page called @karibinyaralas on April 20, 2024.

That legend, partly in Hungarian, read: “Nature is the greatest wonder! Time to take care of her!!!” The post also included a credit to another Instagram user, @mikesudi16, who also shared the footage on Instagram nine days later. Weld he commented that the recording was captured on the beach of Macao, Dominican Republic.

Karen Bairda threatened and migratory species advisor for the conservation group South Pacific Regional Environment Programmeidentified the turtle in the video as a leatherback.

right National Park Service and the National Ocean ServiceThe leatherback is the largest species of sea turtle alive today, with adults reaching more than 6 feet in length and weighing more than 2,000 pounds—an impressive size considering their diet consists primarily of sea jellies and other soft-bodied marine animals.

However, the size of the turtle in the video is out of proportion to the rest of the frame due to a deceptive photography trick known as forced perspective. The concept behind many widely shared photos whose subjects seem too big to be true, from a “monster bullfrog“to a seemingly enormous bear — and yes, another video of a leather turtle.

Like Snopes before reportedforced perspective can:

makes things appear larger or smaller than they actually are, depending on their distance from the camera and other objects. Snopes has verified numerous images of people, objects and animals that use forced perspective to trick social media users.

Addressing this issue, Baird said that “the perspective was enhanced by the position of the camera operator with the turtle in the foreground and the people in the background.”

As shown in the 23-second clip, the turtle is seen walking along the sand in the foreground of the video frame, with a crowd of onlookers standing behind the animal. This placement of foreground and background objects changes the size scale to make it appear as if the leatherback turtle is much larger than the humans.

At the 18-second mark in the clip, for example, a person is seen approaching the creature, which shows how the perspective of the turtle’s size can be changed based on surrounding objects.

(X/@TarotYouuuu)

Despite its massive size, the federally endangered leatherback is a “gentle” giant of the sea. These turtles can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans and nest in tropical latitudes around the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Leatherette gets its name from its unique skin, which has a leathery appearance. The shell is composed of a “layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin reinforced by thousands of tiny bony plates”, Conservation of sea turtles said. It is the only sea turtle that a hard shell is missing.

Snopes debunked other widely shared images whose subjects were accentuated by forced perspective, including the odd-looking “the hammerhead bat” and a photo of abnormally small former US President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter seated next to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

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