Ship Bottom Police Debunk Report Of Crocodile Found In Ocean Off 6th Avenue Beach

And the lesson for today folks is - don't believe everything you read.

Ship Bottom police have received calls about a report that a live crocodile was swimming in the ocean off 6th Street, according to the police department's Facebook page.

The phony report posted on the police department's page shows a picture of a crocodile slithering through ocean waters. The post states that the 17-foot salt water crocodile was captured at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning after it was "restrained" by Ship Bottom police, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center and the Coast Guard.

The so-called report actually came from channel23.com, which says the police department received "frantic" calls from people heading to the beach, which prompted the police department to put out a call for mutual aid.

Except none of it is true.

The source of the bogus report comes from channel23news.com, also known as "Create a Prank."

"Simply create a prank and share it on your social network page," it advises.

Repeat - there was no crocodile captured in the water off the 6th Avenue beach in Ship Bottom.

Images: Ship Bottom Police Department