Fact Check: Authentic Photo of Caribbean Islands from Space?

Claim:

A photograph shared to X in August 2024 genuinely shows the Caribbean islands as seen from space.

Rating:

True ( About this rating? )

A photo shared to X on Aug. 25, 2024, claimed to show the "Caribbean islands" as seen from space, taken "recently" from the International Space Station. At the time of this publication, the photo had received more than 96,000 views.

Snopes traced the above image to one that the NASA Johnson Space Center posted to Flickr in August 2024. Because the photo is genuine and authentically depicts the islands, we have rated this claim as "True."

Astronaut Michael López-Alegría posted that image in August 2024, writing that it was taken during NASA Expedition 71 aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which began on April 5, 2024, and will end in September 2024. At the time of this writing, the Expedition 71 crew , which did not list López-Alegría, is exploring neuro-degenerative diseases and therapies, space botany, space-caused fluid shifts, and algae-based life support systems while aboard the space station.

Snopes next dug through the ISS Flickr account and found that the image was taken on July 24, 2024, and posted by NASA Johnson Space Center on Aug. 9, 2024. A caption that accompanied the photograph read:

The clear blue waters surrounding The Bahamas

iss071e449837 (July 24, 2024) --- The clear blue waters surrounding The Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean are pictured from the International Space Station as it soared 258 miles above.

Next, Snopes examined satellite imagery to determine where the image may have been taken. In a side-by-side comparison below, it's evident that the center island shown in the image on X, which we rotated clockwise, is a similar shape to The Bahamas shown on Google Maps (right side).

(NASA/Google Earth)

A Google keyword search also returned a similar image shared on Facebook on April 13, 2020, by the International Space Station.

https://www.facebook.com/ISS/posts/its-a-small-world-in-this-2010-photo-we-see-florida-cuba-and-the-bahamas-surroun/3220666571299585/

Similar images had also been shared online by NASA , including one taken on July 6, 2016, that showed Florida, The Bahamas, and Cuba.

(NASA)

The Caribbean refers to a region of countries and islands found in the Caribbean Sea, which includes The Bahamas, according to the World Bank . The World Wildlife Fund , an international conservation organization, writes on its website that the Caribbean Sea covers an area of more than 1 million square miles and is home to large areas of seagrass pasture and coral reef, which is shown in the area surrounding the Bahamas.

Sources:

About – Commander. https://mlaspace.com/about/ . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Expedition 71 - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/expedition-71/ . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

---. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/expedition-71/ . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ISS/posts/its-a-small-world-in-this-2010-photo-we-see-florida-cuba-and-the-bahamas-surroun/3220666571299585/ . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba - NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/florida-the-bahamas-and-cuba/ . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Google Lens. https://lens.google.com/search?ep=cnts&re=df&s=4&p=AbrfA8rvDacCAnNhOiA2aCKOrZiZL285RPEV7XrNJEXVj4qqojJkSgi_t0ccwoKvLvq3jKe3ockQOACBhPL1z1WnNddFoevQxq3FHuZOOTowPX3ibd9iXHH4EpiiXnoTYPM3AtrRzkE-cjF67tQxtUfWtbnZYGC_RFSgNiC8r66dh5kBkRg8sKNsvrnKdKdF6qwKLkmXCqMb7q_FhiDi3xHeXOvw0hLvDgj_rqNAVS1IxVUTwov30Svx2NMgBD-2Lvbg-r3LhBK7rcbxziSN_aVRYDJ9BsMZbJpxvBqVvY39Cp4j6OQdIBtBiEVi8p34-HY%3D#lns=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsIkVrY0tKRGMwWldSaVlqWmxMV1ZtWW1RdE5HUmxNaTFpWXpBM0xUSmlORGxsTnpGaFl6aGpaaElmZHpkclprOUlNVmQwYURCVWMwNXBYM3AxVm1GWlRWYzNWM2huUWtkU2F3PT0iLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsWyIxOGEzN2Q5MS04MDM0LTQyYzItOTIyMS05OGFlNWEwNjlmOTYiXV0= . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

"Google Maps." Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/@24.4344686,-75.9667161,725162m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDgyMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

International Space Station Expedition 71 Bahamas Caribbean from Space - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=d71f265c45fd02a5&sca_upv=1&q=international+space+station+expedition+71+bahamas+caribbean+from+space&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6L3J5MIFhvnvU242yFxzEEp3BfblMs7eBu5zPnhtGsrETMyvr0s0k25uDBGIFJHetzWImOtQ-nmdodR4aznKGQI3Mu7kG2OYrGSbhS25Jc18egLZEmDNa4nOLmYfz3wudyx1UV83SK3VG4y02cq3hIx5Dz6Y80M1yGZrXw01JWFmJ39BNDH4Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf_LuorpOIAxXLOTQIHSUWAccQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=711&bih=652&dpr=2.2 . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

---. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=d71f265c45fd02a5&sca_upv=1&q=international+space+station+expedition+71+bahamas+caribbean+from+space&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6L3J5MIFhvnvU242yFxzEEp3BfblMs7eBu5zPnhtGsrETMyvr0s0k25uDBGIFJHetzWImOtQ-nmdodR4aznKGQI3Mu7kG2OYrGSbhS25Jc18egLZEmDNa4nOLmYfz3wudyx1UV83SK3VG4y02cq3hIx5Dz6Y80M1yGZrXw01JWFmJ39BNDH4Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf_LuorpOIAxXLOTQIHSUWAccQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=711&bih=652&dpr=2.2 . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

"Overview." World Bank, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/caribbean/overview . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

The Caribbean Sea. https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/wildlife_practice/profiles/fish_marine/marine_turtles/lac_marine_turtle_programme/projects/hawksbill_caribbean_english/caribbean_sea . Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.