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She says everyone needs to recognize that people can get scared by what they’re seeing and they need to quickly be able to understand what’s really going on.

The premier says the turnaround needs to be quick enough so people don’t actually become terrified.

Some local residents on Wolfe Island, where the video was supposed to have been filmed, said the video had frightened them.

It’s concerning that somebody would come up with a wild hoax

Upon learning the video was a fake, Wolfe Island Mayor Denis Doyle said it was rather concerning that people “do those kinds of such dumb things.”

“It’s concerning that somebody would come up with a wild hoax,” said Doyle, who had previously insisted that the rumoured shark was the equivalent of the Loch Ness monster. “I guess it gets a little personal with some people … I think they probably intended it in good fun.”

Those behind the fake video said they decided to come clean after seeing the frenzy of speculation sparked by the clip.

A Bell Media news releaseon Wednesday sought to “quell the concerns of Canadians,” informing them that the creature in the footage was actually an “incredibly life-like prosthetic model shark.”

Before the revelation Wednesday afternoon, University of Guelph marine biologist Jim Ballantyne said the creature portrayed in the video couldn’t be a shark — judging from the way it moved. Prof. Ballantyne said it looked more like a harbour porpoise, judging from its up and down movement through the water.

“It sort of seems a bit unethical to frighten people,” he said Wednesday, after learning of the prank.