Real or AI? · Latest checks · Checked 3 October 2026
A sawfish and a turtle swimming through pale, milky shallow water, seen from above: real or AI?
Short answer: this is real. The evidence is set out below.
Photograph by Matt Deakin, shared on X by @peeperlab · Shown as an embedded post · Source
The answer: it is real
The photograph shows a green sawfish, a critically endangered species, swimming beside a green turtle in pale shallow water, seen from directly above. It is called Ethereal Encounter and drew wide attention after it won a major prize on 28 August 2026. Matt Deakin, a drone photographer from Broome, took it with a camera on a drone in waters off the Pilbara in Western Australia. The South Australian Museum announced it as the overall winner of the 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year, chosen from 2,129 entries. The museum says the drone was about 2.5 kilometres away, with its battery alarm sounding and the light fading, when the sawfish swam through a group of turtles. Deakin told Digital Camera World that people keep asking him if it is AI, and that he does not take this as an insult. A named photographer, a judged competition and a museum exhibition are strong signs that an unlikely picture is real.
The tells
The sawfish has the right shape, with a long flat snout edged with evenly spaced teeth. The turtle's shell and flippers are in proportion. The haze is even across the frame, as shallow water full of sand looks from a drone. Nothing in the picture melts into anything else.
How we know
- Original source: South Australian Museum, 28 August 2026 (competition announcement)
- Original source: Australian Geographic, winners 2026
- The creator says so: Digital Camera World interview with the photographer, 28 August 2026
We only use a picture in the game when its origin is proven. Read how we check.
How to check something like this yourself
- Search for the picture itself. Put it into Google Lens or TinEye and look for the oldest and sharpest copy.
- Find who posted it first. See what they said about it and what else they post. Makers of AI pictures often say so, and that label is lost when the picture is copied.
- Look for a fact-check. Search the main claim with the words “fact check”. Anything widely shared has usually been looked at.
- Then look closely. Zoom in on hands, writing, edges and the background.
A real picture can look fake. Odd light, unusual lenses and heavy compression all make genuine images seem wrong, which is why the source matters more than the look. See real photos people swear are fake.
Full guide: How to reverse-search a picture.
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