In this post I will be talking through the process of fact checking an article for our break the fake assignment. To get started I found an article that interested me. After some thinking, I decided to go with an article about greenland sharks because they’re an animal I’ve never heard of before.

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This article includes a 10 facts about this creature, these facts being:

1. We don’t know much about them as they’re extremely hard to find
2. They have one of the longest lifespans in the animal kingdom
3. Their meat is toxic
4. The shark is one of the largest sharks in the world at up to 7m
5. If they hunt, their prey is usually sleeping, however they are normally scavengers
6. Scientists have found prey like moose, polar bear, and reindeer in their stomachs
7. They don’t pose a threat to people
8. They are blind
9. There is an Inuit legend about the first Greenland shark
10. Their conservation status is vulnerable

After reading through the article, I knew almost immediately that finding other sources would be most useful. Before I did anything else though, I checked if it was a viable source. To do this, I searched the website, ‘Fact Animal’ on Wikipedia.

There were no results, so this is most likely not a viable source.

My next step was to search the subject of the article on google to find a viable source. After doing this, I found a article from Britannica, which is a viable source.

After reading the article I found this:

1. We don’t know much about them as they’re extremely hard to find – True
2. They have one of the longest lifespans in the animal kingdom – True, they are the longest living vertebrate currently known
3. Their meat is toxic
4. The shark is one of the largest sharks in the world at up to 7m – True
5. If they hunt, their prey is usually sleeping, however they are normally scavengers – True
6. Scientists have found prey like moose, polar bear, and reindeer in their stomachs – True it is believed the prey fell through the ice
7. They don’t pose a threat to people – True, they are barely ever seen by humans and there has only been one recorded attack, in 1859
8. They are blind
9. There is an Inuit legend about the first Greenland shark
10. Their conservation status is vulnerable – False, it is near-threatened

I could not find all the information in this article, so I found another viable source, National Geographic.

1. We don’t know much about them as they’re extremely hard to find – True
2. They have one of the longest lifespans in the animal kingdom – True, they are the longest living vertebrate currently known
3. Their meat is toxic – True
4. The shark is one of the largest sharks in the world at up to 7m – True
5. If they hunt, their prey is usually sleeping, however they are normally scavengers – True
6. Scientists have found prey like moose, polar bear, and reindeer in their stomachs – True it is believed the prey fell through the ice
7. They don’t pose a threat to people – True, they are barely ever seen by humans and there has only been one recorded attack, in 1859 and the only evidence, a human leg in the stomach was never confirmed as true
8. They are blind – True, they are mostly blind due to a parasite
9. There is an Inuit legend about the first Greenland shark
10. Their conservation status is vulnerable – False, it is near-threatened

So, in conclusion this article was almost entirely true, with the only false fact being their conservation status. I also found that some of the information in one of the trusted sources was not entirely true. It is very important to check multiple sources because of this. This was a good exercise in information gathering and fact checking, and I learned about a new animal. That’s all for today, goodbye everyone!

Sources:

Greenland Shark Facts

https://www.britannica.com/animal/Greenland-shark

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/greenland-shark