No, That Is Not A Freshwater Marquette Shark Found On The Shores Of Lake Michigan

If only this were true. But it led us down a fun rathole to end the work day, so scroll down to enjoy.

A post that has garnered more than 5,800 shares as of this writing by Daniel Bailey on Facebook to a humorous page – The Lake Michigan Whale Migration Station – has seemed to jump into the general context of the Internet.

This Rare Fresh water Marquette Shark was landed just now off the dog beach in Muskegon Mi , Extremely large for its type, is thought to be responsible for the disappearance of several black labs. Historically black Labs are mistaken for seals along the west Michigan coast.

The post contains a real photograph that hasn’t been digitally manipulated, just cropped; however, it does not show a “rare freshwater Marquette shark” caught off the coast of a dog park in Michigan.

To be clear, there’s no such thing as a freshwater Marquette shark. And the group says in their about text, “Track the whereabouts of Whales in Lake Michigan. Up to date whale sightings and tour information. Satire is fun.”

The photograph actually depicts Earnie Polk, a fisherman who has a reputation for landing big sharks from the shore.

However, even though this shark in particular isn’t from Michigan, some of the photoshops from the Facebook group are pretty good and might make you wish we had some whales in the Great Lakes.