Does video show Hydra-like sea monster frozen in ice shelf? There's nothing to fear

In February 2026, online users claimed a video authentically showed a frozen, Hydra-like sea monster spotted in the side of an ice shelf. The 10-second clip featured a zooming-in shot purportedly depicting a dark creature appearing to have multiple tentacles.

For example, on Feb. 23, the X user @Crazymoments01 posted (archived) the video with the caption, "You're still here, sleeping beast." Commenters hypothesized the "sleeping beast" resembled the "Godzilla" franchise's King Ghidorah and "Game of Thrones" dragons, as well as the fictional Cthulhu and the Biblical or mythical creatures Hydra, kraken and Leviathan. Numerous X users shared the same user's upload of the clip, collectively receiving tens of million of views.

Users reposted the video — including some versions displaying horizontally-mirrored visuals — on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and YouTube. Some commenters debated whether the video actually depicted tunnels and involved pareidolia, which Merriam-Webster defines as "the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern." Other users similarly asserted the clip showed shadows cast by rays of light.

In short, the video was fake and generated with an artificial-intelligence tool.

The clip originated in a Jan. 28 post (archived) on the Viajes al Desconocido Facebook page, a page name translating from Spanish to "Journeys Into the Unknown." The post's caption read, "Sigue aquí bestia durmiendo," roughly translating to the same "sleeping beast" caption as the Crazy Moments X post. The Facebook page's index of reels showcased hundreds of AI-generated videos depicting locations with ice and snow, along with fantastical and mythological creatures. Each of the page's videos lasted exactly 10 or 15 seconds, common maximum durations for AI-generated videos.

Snopes contacted the user managing the Facebook page to ask for information about the AI tool used to create the clips. We will update this article if we receive further information.

Finding the source of the video

In order to find the user who originally posted the video, we first downloaded the clip from the Crazy Moments X post and then exported each of its 300 frames as an image.

Next, we conducted dozens of reverse image searches using Google Images. Searches using frames 127 and 128, out of the 300 total frames, helped to locate a Facebook post (archived) referencing the original Jan. 28 post (archived) on the Viajes al Desconocido Facebook page.

The very next AI-generated clip hosted on the Facebook page after the posting of the in-question video depicted what commenters labeled as a Hydra, as a monster with at least seven heads. The text caption read, "Desde otro ángulo, esto acaba de empezar," translating to, "From another angle, this is just getting started."

Another AI-generated video provided a different view of a seven-headed monster frozen in ice.

For further reading, we previously reported the true story of an authentic "little sea monster" that appears to have humanlike teeth. We also investigated an alleged 1930 photo showing "Hoggie," a legendary Hogganfield Loch monster.