We are happy to report that no, sharks are not swimming in flooded Sydney train stations

It’s probably fair to say that most Sydneysiders have had better weeks. A natural disaster is in progress; Covid, flu and ‘super cold’ cases are spiking; and we’re all feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis. But thankfully there is one peril Sydney folk don’t have to worry about, despite what the internet might have to say about it.

A pic has been doing the rounds on multiple social media sites and thread channels of a shark swimming in a flooded Sydney train station, and despite it looking pretty obviously fake to even the casual observer, it has nonetheless been given at least some credence by a few gullible people online – becoming one of the biggest Google Trends of the week so far. But needless to say, the picture is fake.

It is, however, really a picture of the flooded Sydney train station, though not from today's floods – Lewisham station in the Inner West to be exact, which flooded following severe thunderstorms in 2014. And the alleged ‘Sydney Aquarium’ worker crouching in the doctored photo, who is supposed to be shark whispering we guess, is in fact an emergency worker manning a pump, which is also clearly visible in the photo.

There are plenty of things to doom scroll about in Sydney as it is, but PT-lovin’ sharks ain’t one of them.

But do you know where you can see a shark (and even swim with them)? At the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, in Darling Harbour.