Were two Great White sharks spotted in Illinois River? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

An article is spreading online that claims a pair of Great White sharks were spotted in the Illinois River.

The article was published on the site React365.com and claims the sharks made their way up the Mississippi River and into the Illinois River. An excerpt from the article can be read below –

Morris, IL- Great white sharks found in Illinois River.
While it is not entirely impossible, it is incredibly uncommon for salt water dwelling creatures to stay for lengthy periods of time in fresh water. However, two Great White Sharks have managed to survive the trip and make their way up the Mississippi River and in to the Illinois River somehow.

Simply put, the article is entirely false. React365.com is a prank website that invites its visitors to conjure up their own stories to trick their friends. This is obvious enough by the homepage of the website that reads “Write an article and prank your friends for fun. Bullying is forbidden.”

This particular story has been spreading across the Interwebs since 2016. React365.com is often associated with shark themed hoaxes. In 2017 a very similar hoax about a shark being found off the Ohio river also went viral thanks to the same prank website.


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The photo of two shark fins that accompanies the story comes from 2008 when it was posted onto Flickr along with the caption “Bull Shark – Rio Sirena River Mouth”. That’s in Costa Rica. That’s a far more likely scenario than a Great White appearing in the Illinois River.

As such, we don’t recommend spreading such a story since it is entirely made up.

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