CLEVELAND — There are a few photos being shared on Facebook that suggest we have an alligator problem in Northeast Ohio.
Claim #1
A post in the Lorain, Ohio Facebook group that has been shared more than 500 times shows an alligator, and claims it was taken at Lakeview Park.
Claim #2
The comments on the post say the photos aren't real, with some people suggesting the images were created using artificial intelligence, or A.I.
Source
To VERIFY what this post actually shows, we ran each of the three images through Google Lens, which is Google’s reverse image search.
Explanation
Google Lens quickly found the three images included in the post all show up in an article from WBRC, a news station located in Birmingham, Alabama.
Reviewing the article, we found that the photos are real. They’re just from Dauphin Island, Alabama, rather than from Lakeview Park in Lorain, Ohio.
The photos were taken by a man named Matt Harvill on May 7, 2023, which we were able to VERIFY from his original post as it was embedded in the article.
Here's what Harville told WBRC about capturing the photos:
“It was just a very beautiful day - my girlfriend and I were just spending some time on the beach when someone mentioned it. So, we walked down to get a better look and snap some pictures. It’s not everyday something like that happens. We see them in Dog River and the Bird sanctuary. Almost never in the Gulf like that. I knew if I didn’t get pictures no one would ever believe it.”
Answer
So we can VERIFY that no, these aren’t A.I.-created images of an alligator, but you don’t have to worry about running into this creature in Lorain.