Did a whale really swallow a yacht? Facts check the viral video

A dramatic video that makes rounds on social media on social media seems to show a whale that swallows a whole yacht and sends shock waves on the Internet. But is this film material real?

The video, originally divided from User @Realxavier011 on X (formerly Twitter), quickly became viral and collected astonishing 28 million views with over 2.5,000 comments, 6.4,000 reposts and 32,000 likes. The clip shows a massive whale that appears out of the ocean and devours a yacht in the pines before it disappears under the waves. The sheer spectacle of the moment asked many asked whether such an incident had actually occurred.

Facts and some watchful social media users have pointed out several inconsistencies, which indicates that the video is generated with AI. In the Community Notes feature of the platform, a disclaimer was added, in which it is stated:

“As you may have noticed quickly, this video was created by AI. The plastic appearance of the whale and the distortion of the people on the boat are clear giveaways. A soundtrack was later added to improve the feeling of danger.”

The clip had some treacherous signs of AI-generated content, including unnatural movements, texture consistencies and visual distortions, especially in the details of the yacht and the people on board. In addition, no credible naval or news agencies have reported such an incident.

With the rise of AI-generated videos, the distinction between facts and fiction has become increasingly challenging online.

At the moment you can say: No, a whale has not swallowed a yacht.