Egypt’s Ministry of Environment says that recent video clips circulated on social media that purportedly record the sounds of blue whales along Egypt’s northern coast are fabricated.

Hashtags related to the appearance of blue whales off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast topped Twitter after the videos were widely circulated on social media.

The Ministry of Environment said it assigned work teams in the northern coast region to contact citizens and agencies to verify the authenticity of these clips, and determined that they are not genuine.

“The clips were fabricated by dubbing the sounds of whales onto the video,” the ministry said on Sunday in a statement, adding that the sounds heard in the videos are not consistent with the noise made by blue whales, which is very low frequency and is detected using special devices.

The ministry did say, however, that there are many other types of whales in the Mediterranean, and that their presence along Egyptian coasts is indicative of a healthy environment and the success of Egypt’s efforts to protect whales from extinction.

The ministry also urged citizens not to disturb or harm any whales if they see them in the wild, and affirmed that the types of whales that appear along Egyptian coasts pose no danger to humans.