Papuan Fishermen Find Giant Axolotl Spark Social Media Debate Over AI Image

A Facebook post from Jarred Jermaine with the caption “Papuan Fishermen caught animals that have never been seen before” has been circulating social media since 30th, July.

Under the caption are images showing a giant Axolotl in a fisherman’s boat and has received almost 10k reactions and 3.5k comments.

Measurements and comparisons to average axolotl size

The large creature closely resembles an Axolotl, a typical salamander species but judging
from the look of the creature features in the image, it is safe to say they are not close to a real
axolotl.

First, a real Axolotl is usually smaller in size than a human. The image is showing the creature to be larger than the humans beside it. The actual length of an Axolotl is usually 18 inches but most times are shorter than a foot in sizes.

Second, Axolotls are found moving in small numbers in freshwater. They can never thrive well in the ocean, as they can barely tolerate a certain salt level which means they can’t adapt to the change in their ecosystem.

Other signs that the image is fake as internet users have commented that the Axolotl hands
were like that of a human.

Another discovery was the text on one of the men’s T-shirts. The bizarre hands and text inscription looks gibberish which is a clear AI generated image.

One internet user wrote “AI generated, the axolotl’s “hand” on the first picture looks like a
human’s.”

Frank YK reacted “This is definitely fake. They would’ve got away with it if the hands didn’t
have human fingers hahahahahahahaha”

Brenda commented “ That’s a real AI. Axolotl in these says a lot of animals are AI. It’s a
new breed made by social media. An axolotl is an amphibian , A salamander belongs to the
mole salamander family. The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a salamander that remains
in the larval stage throughout its life.. They grow to a maximum size of 30 cm. But since the
creation of AI, a new species has emerged. Namely the AI species. They belong to the social
media family. And unfortunately they cannot be found in real life but only in photos.”

Ryan Lynch commented “Photoshopped Axolotl”

Another left a comment reading: “Deffo AI. Look at the left ones ‘hands…”

Jacob Melson reacted
“1) Reflections of tentacles don’t match creature
2) 6 fingers on one hand 5 on the other.
3) Tentacles on one arm and not the other.
4) 6 tentacles on one side, 5 on the other.
5) Gibberish writing on shirts.

This is clearly AI.”

No media sources have been able to prove that the images were real nor any photographer has
claimed to take those pictures.