Video of stranded dolphins in Argentina falsely linked to Fukushima wastewater

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 13, 2023 at 09:58
2 min read
By AFP Indonesia

As misinformation swirled around Japan's release of treated wastewater from its stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, TikTok posts shared a video that they falsely claimed showed dolphins swimming away from the discharge. The footage was in fact filmed in Argentina in 2022, when a pod of dolphins swam towards the shore. It is not clear what the creatures were doing in the area.

"What is actually happening? A lot of dolphins are swimming to the coast," reads Indonesian-language sticker text on a TikTok video posted on August 31, 2023.

The video, which has more than 4,000 views, shows a pod of dolphins swimming towards the coast.

"Who is to blame when this happens?" the post says, including the hashtags #japannuclearwaste and #japandumpsnuclearwaste.

Screenshot of the false post, captured on October 9, 2023

While Japan has insisted the treated water poses no health risks -- a view backed by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog -- China has repeatedly criticised the release and banned all Japanese seafood imports.

Social media has also been inundated with videos of dead fish and shrimp washing up to shore that posts falsely linked to the release.

Similar TikTok posts falsely linking the dolphin video to Fukushima surfaced here, here and here, racking up 1,500 views.

Argentine coast

A reverse image search on Russian search engine Yandex found the video in an article that says it was filmed in Argentina.

Spanish-language US media outlet Infobae reported in February 2022 that the dolphins were stranded in Ushuaia, a town at the southern tip of Argentina -- 16,000 kilometres (10,000 miles) from Fukushima (archived links here and here).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in the false TikTok post (left) and in Infobae's article (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video shared in the false TikTok post (left) and in Infobae's article (right)

Infobae reported that the incident happened at the Club Náutico de Ushuaia.

AFP confirmed the footage was filmed at this location by comparing Google Street View imagery to the video (archived link). Similar features include a light green-roofed cottage on the coast and the dock.

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and a photo on Google Street View (right)

The Infobae article quoted a researcher saying it was unclear why the dolphins had become stranded at the port.

Argentine newspaper Clarin reported that the dolphins may have been trying to get away from a fishing boat or could have become "disorientated" and swam towards the port due to waste from the boat (archived link).

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