That Great White Shark in Galveston photo on Facebook is a total fraud

A photo of a giant shark supposedly caught in Galveston was posted to Facebook where it went viral. The image actually shows a shark caught in Nova Scotia in 2004. See more Houston tall tales, urban legends, frauds and scams ... less A photo of a giant shark supposedly caught in Galveston was posted to Facebook where it went viral. The image actually shows a shark caught in Nova Scotia in 2004. See more Houston tall tales, urban legends, ... more Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close That Great White Shark in Galveston photo on Facebook is a total fraud 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

If you're one of the more than 67,000 (and growing) Facebook users who shared a photo of a great white shark that was caught in Galveston on Tuesday, you've been duped by quite a fish tale.

The photo, posted Tuesday, claims that the giant sea beast pictured with blood dripping from its mouth was caught off Galveston, only a mile from a popular swim area.

The man who posted the viral photo earlier this week reached out to the Houston Chronicle on Friday to clarify that he never said he caught the shark and was only sharing a photo and caption that was shared to his Facebook page. Somehow, it was his version of another's post that went viral on Facebook.

As it turns out, the caption was only off by about 11 years, a few thousand miles and an entire gene pool.

According to the fraud debunkers at Snopes.com, the shark is actually a 1,035-pound mako caught during a 2004 shark-fishing derby in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The dramatic photo of the catch has circulated online since, with various claims as to where and when it was caught, with past posters crediting it to fishermen in Washington, Maryland, Texas and other parts of Canada.

Even without Snopes, the photo gives a few obvious clues that it wasn't caught off Galveston Island:

- A crane in the background lists a "(902)" area code phone number, which is local to Nova Scotia;

- The man seen speaking to the fisherman is wearing a heavy parka jacket, which is out-of-place most months in Galveston, but certainly during mid-June.

- The date the catch is credited to is the morning Tropical Storm Bill was threatening the island. While it's not impossible for fisherman to be out hooking makos with such weather looming in the Gulf, it's kind of not the greatest idea.

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