A new viral image, reporting to represent what dolphins, see has been making its way around social media circles on the internet recently, and experts are saying that it might be hoax. The image, which shows a grainy black and white figure of a diver, is supposedly mapped out using the dolphin’s ability of echolocation, or using sound waves to “see.”
According to the Washington Post, the image was released under mysterious circumstances: details like the names of the researchers and where they conducted their study remain unknown, left out of a press release that is circulating the article.
Because echolocation is such a hard to imagine concept for human beings, skeptics point out that it seems strange a press release would claim to have figured out exactly what a dolphin “sees” without being attached to a major research university or organization.
The organization responsible for the image is called SpeakDolphin, and according to their website, the organization’s founder, Jack Kassewitz, does not believe in having his work published or peer reviewed in any official capacity.
However, after an interview Business Insider conducted with Justic Gregg, senior research associate and vice president of the Dolphin Communication Project, the story becomes even more unbelievable. Gregg points out that images were created with something Kassewitz called Cyncascope – which nobody, aside from those at SpeakDolphin, really knows much about.
Kassewitz told the Washington Post that, although he doesn’t believe in having his research peer reviewed, he does have an internal research team that reviews all his work before he goes public with it. However, without any official publication or peer review, there is no way to validate the viral image.