Indeed, although in this case it seems it was not fabricated. According to the Guardian article, the idea came from Geologist Scott Bryan: Bryan said the raft

Indeed, although in this case it seems it was not fabricated. According to the Guardian article, the idea came from Geologist Scott Bryan: Bryan said the raft will be the temporary home for billions of marine organisms. Marine life including barnacles, corals, crabs, snails and worms will tag along as it travels toward Australia and become a "potential mechanism for restocking the Great Barrier Reef".[0] This was then more widely reported as "Scientists say..." It appears Bryan is a geologist specializing in volcanology who has expertise in pumice rafts, but not in marine biology[1]. One would have hoped he would know better than to make such statements to the media. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/25/massive-pumice-raft-spotted-in-the-pacific-could-help-replenish-great-barrier-reef https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/25/massive-... [1] https://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/scott.bryan https://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/scott.bryan