Is the video of the Sri Lankan multiday boat captured by a whale, a real video?

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This is an investigation we conducted to find the truth of a video published on social media claiming to be a scene of a Sri Lankan multiday boat being captured by a whale.

Social Media Posts :

A video circulated on social media claiming that a Sri Lankan multiday boat was captured by a whale.

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This video was also shared as an incident from other countries.

We took steps to check the credibility of these videos.

Fact – Check:

Upon closer examination of this video, it is obvious that there are many unnatural scenes.

In the scene where the whale swallows the boat, it is possible to observe the contraction of the bodies of the people and the unnatural positions of the teeth of the whale.

However, as it was doubtful whether the video was created through AI, we checked whether this video was created through artificial intelligence software, and found out that it was created through AI.

However, during our investigation, we did not find any incidents of whale attacks on multiday boats reported through media.

Also, there weren’t any international media reports regarding this.

Are there incidents of whale attacking on boats?

Whales are generally not aggressive towards humans. According to the Whale Scientists’ Website most of the times, boats and divers are approached by whales out of curiosity, not aggression.

However, there have been cases where sperm whales, orcas and killer whales have injured people or damaged boats. 

Scientists show that, sometimes whales jump into the boats and break them, often unintentionally or playfully. Such reports are here and here.

Although deliberate attacks on humans are rare, recently an incident was reported in Chile, when Adrian Simacas was briefly swallowed by a humpback whale while kayaking in the strait of Magellan. The whale quickly released him from its mouth, and he rescued unharmed. Through that also it is clear that the humpback whales are not anatomically capable of swallowing humans. You can refer to that video here.

Some more reports are here, here and here.

Do whales eat people?

Whales do not eat humans. They are a group of animals that generally do not pose a threat to humans. Their feeding mechanisms and diet are not suitable for consumption of large mammals such as humans.

The largest whales, such as blue whales and humpback whales, use baleen plates to filter food from the water and eat small organisms such as krill and small fish.

Even toothed killer whales such as orcas whales and sperm whales prey on fish, squid and marine mammals. Although capable of consuming large prey, they do not usually hunt humans.

There are primarily two types of whales which are baleen whales and toothed whales.

Toothed whales (Odontoceti)

These whales actively hunt and prey fish, squids, and even marine mammals.

Example: Sperm whales, orcas, dolphins and porpoises (small toothed whales), beluga whales and narwhals.

Baleen whales (Mysticeti)

Instead of teeth, they have baleen plates made of keratin (like fingernails), which they use to feed on krill and small fish.

Examples : Blue whales, humpback whales, gray whales, fin whales

Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world for whale watching. You can see both toothed whales and baleen whales in Sri Lanka.

The whales you can see in Sri Lanka are sperm whales, orcas, dolphins, and blue whales which is a baleen whale. Bryde’s Whale is often found near the coast. Humpback whales are rare but sometimes can be seen during migration.

The best places for whale watching in Sri Lanka are:

Mirissa – Best place to blue whales and sperm whales (November – April)

Trincomalee – Blue Whales and Orcas (March – August)

Kalpitiya – Dolphins and sometimes whales can also be seen.

More information on this are here, here, here and here.

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Conclusion

Our investigation shows that the video circulating on social media claiming that a Sri Lankan multiday boat was captured by a whale is created using AI. Whales do not take humans as food, and so  such incident has been reported in Sri Lanka.