Overview

• Multiple fact-checking outlets, including Snopes, Forbes and Hindustan Times, have verified that the Jessica Radcliffe footage is a fabricated deepfake and confirmed no records exist of the trainer or the named marine parks.
• Investigators traced the hoax to AI-generated dramatizations first posted by the Animal Quests YouTube channel in December 2024, which were later repurposed and spread on TikTok, Facebook and X.
• Technical analyses uncovered telltale AI artifacts—such as muddled text, repeated or distorted crowd figures and morphing limbs—that proved the footage was synthetic.
• Imitator videos alleging a second victim, trainer Marina Lysaro, surfaced on social media but were debunked by the same indicators of AI manipulation.
• Despite widespread debunking, these hoax videos continue drawing millions of views, highlighting platform incentives that reward sensational synthetic content.