Fact Check: Yes, Video Authentically Shows 'Biggest Turtle in World' Shuffling Along Beach

Claim:

A video shared to social media in mid-October 2024 authentically showed "the biggest turtle in the world" shuffling along a beach.

Rating:

Context:

The video authentically showed a leatherback turtle, the largest species in the world. However, it was recorded from a low angle, which made the reptile look bigger than it actually was. This is a photographic deception trick known as forced perspective.

Footage shared to X on Oct. 14, 2024, appeared to show (archived) a large turtle sliding along a sandy beach to the amazement of onlookers. Compared with the people in the background, the turtle looked massive — perhaps explaining the 1.2 million views the video had amassed as of this writing.

According to Google's translation tool, the caption, which was written in Thai, read: "This is the biggest turtle in the world. It's a turtle that doesn't have scales or a shell. I wish you safe travels!!!"

In short, the video itself was authentic and does show the largest known species of turtle in the world, which is why we have rated this claim as true. However, the footage was captured from a low angle, making the animal appear bigger than it actually is through a photographic deception trick known as forced perspective.

There were no signs the footage was generated using artificial intelligence software. Likewise, Hive Moderation, a website with an AI-detection tool, said there was virtually no possibility of the video containing AI-generated or deepfake content.

(Hive Moderation AI-Generated Content Detection)

The clip appeared to first be posted by an Instagram page called @karibinyaralas on April 20, 2024.

That caption, partly in Hungarian, read: "Nature is the greatest wonder! It's time to look after her!!!" The post also included a credit for another Instagram user, @mikesudi16, who also shared the footage on Instagram nine days later. Sudi commented that the recording was captured on Macao Beach, Dominican Republic.

Karen Baird, a threatened and migratory species adviser for the conservation group South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, identified the turtle in the video as a leatherback.

According to the National Park Service and the National Ocean Service, leatherbacks are the largest sea turtle species living today, with adults reaching more than 6 feet long and weighing over 2,000 pounds — an impressive size considering their diet primarily consists of sea jellies and other soft-bodied marine animals.

https://www.instagram.com/karibinyaralas/reel/C5-EZt3of2I/

However, the turtle's size in the video is out of proportion with the rest of the frame due to a deceptive photography trick known as forced perspective. The concept is behind many widely shared photographs whose subjects seem too large to be true, from a "monster bullfrog"  to a seemingly enormous bear — and yes, another video of a leatherback turtle.

As Snopes previously reported, forced perspective can:

Addressing this issue, Baird said the "perspective has been enhanced by the position of the camera operator with the turtle in the foreground and people behind."

As shown in the 23-second clip, the turtle is seen scooting along the sand in the foreground of the video frame, with a crowd of onlookers standing behind the animal. This placement of objects in the foreground and background shifts the size scale to make it appear as if the leatherback turtle is much larger than the humans.

At the 18-second mark in the clip, for example, a person is seen coming closer to the creature, which shows how the perspective of the turtle's size can be shifted depending on its surrounding objects.

(X/@TarotYouuuu)

Despite its massive size, the federally endangered leatherback turtle is a "gentle" giant of the sea. These turtles can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and nest in tropical latitudes around the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The leatherback gets its name from its unique shell, which is leathery in appearance. The shell is composed of "a layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin, strengthened by thousands of tiny bone plates," the Sea Turtle Conservancy said. It's the only sea turtle that lacks a hard shell.

Snopes has debunked other widely shared images whose subjects have been accentuated through forced perspective, including the odd-looking "hammerhead bat" and a photo of the abnormally small former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter seated next to President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.

Sources:

Christi, Mailing Address: P. O. Box 181300 Corpus, and TX 78480 Phone:949-8068 Malaquite Visitor Center information line Contact Us. The Leatherback Sea Turtle - Padre Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/leatherback.htm. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

Dapcevich, Madison. "Photo Shows True Size of Bear's Paw Compared to Human?" Snopes, 16 Sept. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/bear-paw-size-photo-human/.

Evon, Dan. "Does This Video Show an Abnormally Large Leatherback Turtle?" Snopes, 15 Aug. 2018, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/large-leatherback-turtle-video/.

Evon, Dan. 'Is This "Monster Bullfrog" Real?' Snopes, 26 May 2017, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/monster-bullfrog/.

---. "Is the Hammerhead Bat a Real Animal?" Snopes, 30 July 2018, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/hammerhead-bat/.

---. "Why Do the Bidens Look Giant in Photo With Carters?" Snopes, 4 May 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/bidens-photo-carters/.

Forced Perspective Articles | Snopes.Com. https://www.snopes.com/tag/forced-perspective/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

Home | Pacific Environment. https://www.sprep.org/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

Information About Sea Turtles: Leatherback Sea Turtle – Sea Turtle Conservancy. https://conserveturtles.org/information-about-sea-turtles-leatherback-sea-turtle/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

Karen Baird | Pacific Environment. https://www.sprep.org/team-member/strategic-policy-and-technical-programmes/karen-baird. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

karibinyaralas. 'Nature Is the Greatest Wonder! It's Time to Look after Her!!!' Instagram, 20 Apr. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/karibinyaralas/reel/C5-EZt3of2I/.

'Leatherback Turtle'. Fisheries.NOAA, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle.

mikesudi16. 'Incredible!' Instagram, 29 Apr. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/bviral/reel/C6WZC9gO3KM/.

'What Is the Largest Sea Turtle?' OceanService.NOAA, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/leatherback.html.

Wrona, Aleksandra. "Examples of a Deceptive Photography Trick: Forced Perspective." Snopes, 22 May 2023, https://www.snopes.com//list/forced-perspective/.