Last night was the premiere of the Bachelor, which is just about the only reality TV show that I do not watch. However, an incident occured on last night’s episode that several of you brought to my attention. Apparently, one of the contestants wore a shark costume for the entire episode…but kept referring to it as a dolphin costume. (While not everyone can reasonably be expected to know the difference between a shark and a dolphin, this contestant stated that she wants to be a dolphin trainer.)

Here is a screenshot:

Screenshot from the Bachelor season 21 premiere, H/T Buzzfeed

This is clearly a shark costume, not a dolphin costume. There are several ways you can tell, but perhaps the most obvious is the presence of gills. This costume has gills. Sharks have gills. Dolphins do not have gills.

The costume has gills. Dolphins do not (photo: NOAA, spotted dolphin). Sharks do (photo: NOAA, blue shark)

Also, here is the exact costume she was wearing. Note that it is called a shark costume.

Buzzfeed appears to be running a poll at the moment, asking their readers whether this is a shark or a dolphin. Whether or not it is a good idea to wear an outfit like this on a dating show is certainly up for debate, but whether this is a shark or a dolphin is not.

UPDATE: On the Monday, March 6th “Women Tell All” special, Alexis finally admitted that it was, in fact, a shark costume.