# National Geographic Great White Shark Photo

A great white shark leaping beside a small boat went viral in December 2016 after being falsely labeled National Geographic's Photo of the Year. The image was actually a Shutterstock composite by artist Alexyz3d, and the hoax became a recurring reference point for viral photo misattribution.

## Origin
In December 2016, a digitally edited composite by Shutterstock artist Alexyz3d began spreading on Twitter with captions crediting National Geographic, and in some versions attributing the shot to a nonexistent photographer named Bob Burton[3]. The underlying artwork was a stock composite listed for licensing on Shutterstock, not real wildlife photography from an expedition[5].

- **Platform:** Shutterstock (source image) / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Alexyz3d
- **Date:** 2016

## Overview
The picture shows a great white breaching from the water next to a small vessel, staged as a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife shot[1]. The hoax attached fake context to the image: a fabricated photographer name, often given as 'Bob Burton,' and the fake claim of a National Geographic Photo of the Year prize[2].

Fact-checkers matched the visual to a digitally composited stock upload by Shutterstock contributor Alexyz3d, meaning the shark was never captured in the wild the way the caption suggested[1]. The fake credit line was what carried the image, since viewers who trusted the National Geographic label passed it on without checking[2].

## How It Spread
On December 4, 2016, Twitter user @foomandoonian posted Alexyz3d's images and pointed out that the National Geographic credit was fabricated[4]. Twitter debunker account @PicPedant followed with a link to the Shutterstock page hosting the original composite[3].

Gizmodo published a writeup the same day flagging the hoax[2]. The next day, on December 5, Snopes rated the 'award-winning National Geographic photo' claim false in an article headlined 'Not-ional Geographic'[1].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is National Geographic Great White Shark Photo?
It's a Shutterstock composite of a great white shark leaping beside a boat that went viral in December 2016 with a false National Geographic Photo of the Year caption[1].

### Where did National Geographic Great White Shark Photo come from?
The base image was a digital composite by Shutterstock contributor Alexyz3d that got mislabeled and shared on Twitter in early December 2016[3].

### What does National Geographic Great White Shark Photo mean?
It refers to viral photo hoaxes that dress up stock or composite images with fake awards and fake photographer credits to trick social feeds[2].

### How do you use National Geographic Great White Shark Photo?
People typically repost the shark image with an inflated caption or reference it when calling out other fake 'Photo of the Year' claims[1].

### Is National Geographic Great White Shark Photo still popular?
The image is mostly remembered as a debunked hoax from 2016 rather than a live meme format[2].

## References
1. [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/not-ional-geographic/](<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/not-ional-geographic/>)
2. [https://gizmodo.com/no-this-shark-picture-isnt-the-national-geographic-phot-1789755073](<https://gizmodo.com/no-this-shark-picture-isnt-the-national-geographic-phot-1789755073>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/national-geographic-great-white-shark-photo](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/national-geographic-great-white-shark-photo>)
4. [https://twitter.com/foomandoonian](<https://twitter.com/foomandoonian>)
5. [https://www.shutterstock.com/g/alexyz3d](<https://www.shutterstock.com/g/alexyz3d>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/national-geographic-great-white-shark-photo
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