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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Is this real?
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 12/07/2010 02:26:40 PM · #1
Someone at work sent me this, with a subject of "great shot". Supposedly a kayaker with a killer whale surfacing right under him. Looks like a shallow lake or river and I would have thought such animals would not be found so close in. It just does not seem right, but I don't know much about these creatures and their habits. Anyone know more that I do?

12/07/2010 02:32:14 PM · #2
looks fake to me. It is not an orca (killer whale), but even so, the whale and water is sharp, but the guy and his kayak, etc, are kinda soft. There are long reflections of the whale in the water, but none of the kayaker. He also seems oblivious to the whale. :-)
 12/07/2010 02:36:58 PM · #3
Originally posted by chromeydome:
looks fake to me. It is not an orca (killer whale), but even so, the whale and water is sharp, but the guy and his kayak, etc, are kinda soft. There are long reflections of the whale in the water, but none of the kayaker. He also seems oblivious to the whale. :-)


good observation, the reflections are a dead giveaway its fake.
 12/07/2010 02:38:50 PM · #4
Check out //www.hoax-slayer.com/kayak-mouth-whale.shtml
 12/07/2010 02:39:56 PM · #5
Good catch on the reflection and the non-panic of the kayaker. I knew there were other elements about it that didn't seem right, but I couldn't nail them down.
 12/07/2010 02:41:00 PM · #6
It looks like a fresh water lake too which aren't the most popular places to go whale watching.
 12/07/2010 02:41:46 PM · #7
Originally posted by davidw:
Check out //www.hoax-slayer.com/kayak-mouth-whale.shtml

Thanks. I did a search but failed to find that. Reminds me of the helicopter/leaping shark shot that went around a while back.
 12/07/2010 02:48:23 PM · #8
You can also try this next time: Image Error Level Analysis
 12/07/2010 02:59:03 PM · #9
Originally posted by chromeydome:
looks fake to me. It is not an orca (killer whale), but even so, the whale and water is sharp, but the guy and his kayak, etc, are kinda soft. There are long reflections of the whale in the water, but none of the kayaker. He also seems oblivious to the whale. :-)


Also, there is a bit of a white rim light around the whale/fish, that doesn't appear on the man or kayak.
 12/07/2010 03:07:13 PM · #10
It looks like a fresh water lake too which aren't the most popular places to go whale watching.----

It may or may not be a freshwater lake; I doubt it though. Having grown up in the pacific NW and lived in Alaska, I've seen many inlets, which are very deep with steep underwater sides and with 30' tides, that had no connection to freshwater.
 12/07/2010 03:11:29 PM · #11
Even more obvious: killer whales have teeth, not baleen, and their mouths aren't that big. The setting is not so unusual, though. The glacial fjords and channels around Alaska are quite deep and whales can been seen very close to shore.
 12/07/2010 03:50:35 PM · #12
Guy's seriously - is this even a question ??

On top of the fact that there are no teeth - the lower jaw looks too big for the upper jaw, ( presumably to allow the kayak to sit in the right visual spot ) , and the water disturbance of a whale surfacing under him with it's mouth open would be immense. This is as real as the Godzilla version that will follow shortly . .

:- )
 12/07/2010 04:01:29 PM · #13
The picture of the whale itself, minus the kayaker, could be very real. I want to say gray or humpback whales will work like this where they come up from the deep with their mouth open to swallow a ball of krill or sardines. Their gullets can get immense from the entering water and then shrink as the water is drained (leaving the food).

I agree though that the kayaker is an addition.
 12/07/2010 04:04:24 PM · #14
Originally posted by davidw:
Check out //www.hoax-slayer.com/kayak-mouth-whale.shtml

the photos are all in the story, very nice images of the whales.
 12/07/2010 04:06:50 PM · #15
12/07/2010 04:11:01 PM · #16
Originally posted by Jedusi:
This is as real as the Godzilla version that will follow shortly . .

I believe.
 12/07/2010 04:11:50 PM · #17
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

This IS real!
 12/07/2010 04:23:13 PM · #18


The area circled in yellow does not have the same DOF blur as its surroundings and it was retouched.

12/07/2010 05:03:02 PM · #19
Originally posted by Jedusi:
the lower jaw looks too big for the upper jaw, ( presumably to allow the kayak to sit in the right visual spot ), and the water disturbance of a whale surfacing under him with it's mouth open would be immense.

Originally posted by HighNooner:
The area circled in yellow does not have the same DOF blur as its surroundings and it was retouched.

No, no and no. The original images are posted on the hoax slayer site already noted in this thread. The whale photo was not retouched aside from adding the kayak.
 12/07/2010 05:23:13 PM · #20
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by Jedusi:
the lower jaw looks too big for the upper jaw, ( presumably to allow the kayak to sit in the right visual spot ), and the water disturbance of a whale surfacing under him with it's mouth open would be immense.


No, no and no. The original images are posted on the hoax slayer site already noted in this thread. The whale photo was not retouched aside from adding the kayak.


Well I've looked at the original and to be honest I'm still surprised at the ( apparent ) relative upper and lower jaw sizes - but fair enough :- )
 12/07/2010 05:42:12 PM · #21
There are two dead give aways for me, aside from everything mentioned.

1.) You can't see the other side of the kayakers paddle because the whale is there... If that was the case, the paddle would have damn near been blown out of his hands. As noted, there is no reaction

2.) There is no water trail behind the kayak. All boats leave a wave and even though a kayaks is small, it would definitely be there.. There is no trail behind it, which makes it clear that the kayak was added...

Its a funny photo though... made me laugh...
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