According to the accompanying description to the video, the squid washed up on a beach in Punakaiki, New Zealand on March 1, 2015. However, according to research from Snopes, the image featured in the video is fake. Also, they note that the scene was not filmed anywhere near New Zealand, but more than 7,000 miles away.
Here are some examples of people sharing the fake video on social media.
Armed with buckets for water and shovels for digging, the residents of White Rock streamed down to the beach early Tuesday in an attempt to help a humpback whale that had washed up on shore.
But just hours after being beached on the waterfront about 45 minutes south of Vancouver, the whale died as dozens of people looked on helplessly.
“The animal was alive but it was in just too weak and in such poor shape that we knew it had been distressed for a long time,” said Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal co-ordinator for the Department of Fisheries and Ocean.
“It had been labouring for a long time and was swimming and just got caught by the tides.”
However, the photograph of the “giant squid” in the fake video was created by cropping the original image and replacing the whale with a photograph of a squid. For further proof, here is a comparison of the two images. You can clearly see the similarities.
What did you think of the fake video? Did you or someone you know fall for it? Seen any other fake videos circulating social media? Sound off below in the comments section.