Photo of Plymouth Rock misrepresented to dispute rising sea levels

CLAIM: A photo of Plymouth Rock sitting in a small amount of water proves that sea levels have not risen significantly over the last 402 years due to climate change.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Plymouth Rock has not remained in its original location over the centuries, and sea level rise has been well-documented in the surrounding region, experts say. In addition, the photo also does not take account of regular tidal fluctuations.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a photo of Plymouth Rock, the Massachusetts landmark that symbolizes the arrival of pilgrims in 1620, to claim that sea levels have not risen.

The Instagram post features a photo of Plymouth Rock mostly exposed at water level along with the text, “‘Climate change’” and “Plymouth Rock still at sea level after 402 years.” The post was liked more than 3,900 times.

But the photo is being misrepresented, experts say. The rock has been broken, split, and relocated multiple times over the past two and a half centuries, Donna D. Curtin, executive director of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Such instances include the rock possibly being raised from its original location in 1749 due to the construction of a wharf, the removal of its top portion in 1774, and later its excavation and relocation onto the shoreline in 1920, she noted.

“This claim is based on the incorrect assumption that Plymouth Rock has been in the same location for 402 years. That is not the case,” Curtin wrote. “It is unquestionably not in the exact same spot as it was 402 years ago.”

The rock is regularly underwater at high tide in its present location underneath a granite portico built in 1921, Curtin noted.

The photo also provides no evidence of sea level change over time because it does not reflect the ebb and flow of tides that change depending on the time of day, Brian Yellen, a research assistant professor in the University of Massachusetts, Amherst’s department of earth, geographic, and climate sciences, told the AP. Such a snapshot does not illustrate long-term sea level changes.

“The post in and of itself doesn’t really have any information to help you assess sea level rise,” Yellen said. “The tide range in Plymouth is close to 10 feet.”

Sea levels in the Boston area, just north of Plymouth, have risen just over a foot in the last century, Yellen noted. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels in Boston have risen by 2.89 millimeters per year. Since 1880, the average global sea level has risen 8 to 9 inches, or 203 to 228 millimeters, according to NOAA.

“Every projection of future sea level shows pretty intense increases in global sea level rise,” he added. “No matter who you ask on the topic, everyone is in agreement, sea level is going to rise. It’s going to rise fast.”

Photos of the Statue of Liberty and Fort Denison in Australia’s Sydney Harbor have similarly been misrepresented online before to dispute the facts around rising sea levels.

Plymouth Rock has been mythologized and popularly identified as the landing place of pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, though the association is currently recognized as “myth rather than fact,” Curtin wrote.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.