Shark Week Terrifies Canadians with Fake Footage of Lake Ontario Shark

Discovery Channel's Shark Week is known for its quirky marketing. But is this the first time it's actually scared people? The broadcaster had to reassure Canadians living near Kingston, Ontario this week after a fake YouTube video it posted purported to show a shark in Lake Ontario. The footage, which looks to be filmed with a smartphone, is of two guys fishing in the lake and finding something mighty suspicious-looking with a fin. The agency, Bell Media, was forced to reveal the hoax after some local panic, which prompted Ontario's Natural Resources Minister Bill Mauro to tell people to call authorities if they spotted any suspicious fins. While it wasn't quite "everyone out of the water," Discovery later said it hadn't wanted to spoil anyone's summer -- it was just trying to get sharks on people's radar and in particular, promote a Nissan campaign called "In Search of Canada's Rogue Shark."

Shark Week Terrifies Canadians with Fake Footage of Lake Ontario Shark

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