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INTRODUCTION
Mermaids are mythological creatures with a torso of a human and a
lower body of a fish. Different stories of mermaids are present in different parts of
the globe. Many people believed that these creatures do not exist at all but
there are still some who believed that mermaids do possibly exist. Some people
thought that these creatures were just mere manatees but some people would
insist that they were not just mere manatees being sighted for they are real
mermaids. The confusion between manatees and mermaids is still present even
today.
Are mermaids real? Do they really exist? The researcher in this study aims
to prove the possible existence of mermaids in the real world based on the
sightings recorded on mermaids.
Significance of the Study
This study which examines the possible existence of the mermaids based on the
recorded sightings aims to unlock several facts that are beneficial to the
following:
To the children and adults who do not believe in mermaids existence:
This study aims to find the possibilities in the existence of mermaids based on the
sightings recorded in the past.

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To the scientists:
The result of this study will help the scientists to compare and contrast the
similarities and differences between mermaids and manatees.
Scope and Limitation
This study is limited to the recorded sightings that were made by different people
from different places in this world in the past. This study does not include the
anatomy of mermaids for there has been no actual mermaids being studied or
experimented.
Definition of terms
The following words used in this study are operationally defined to have a
better understanding of this research.
Mermaids. Mermaids are mythical creatures that are half-woman half-fish.
The male version of the mermaids is called mermen. The definition of this
creature varies because the places vary. They possess tails which enable them
to swim fast. They are also known for their beautiful voices.
Mermaid hoaxes. Mermaid hoaxes, usually mermaid skeletons, are fake
mermaids that were created by famous sculpture artists or experts in order to
trick the people that the creation is real or genuine.
Recorded Sightings. These are the sightings of mermaids in the past.
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MERMAIDS
Definitions and other terms of mermaids
The World Book Encyclopedia defines mermaid as a mythical creature
that dwells in the sea and they are also known to have an upper body of a
human and a lower body of a fish. They are able to attract land folks by their
voices and beautiful faces. It is also believed that mermaids have a magic cap
which lets the human breath underwater.
In addition, an article from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-
history/columbus-mistakes-manatees-for-mermaids states that the mythological
half-fish, half-woman creature called mermaids have already existed in the
cultures of seafaring since the time of the early Greeks. Mermaids are often
represented as having a woman head and a torso, a tail of a fish rather than
legs and also represented holding a mirror and a comb. They live in the depths
of the ocean and according to some myths, mermaids have the ability to take
the form of a human and marry mortal men. Mermaids are nearly related to
sirens, half-woman half-bird, which dwell on islands and sing seductive music to
draw sailors to their deaths.
Mermaids are as well defined in different folklores.
www.mermaid.net/mermaid website mentioned that in African folklore,
mermaids have a special place in the religion of Africans. They have this god
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named Yemaja. Yemaja is referred as a mother of fish-like children. According
to the Africans, without Yemaja, no water creature would continue to live.
According to the British folklore, as pointed out in
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mermaid, mermaids were said to
be dangerous and some of them were believed to be 160 feet tall or even
more. They also swim in rivers and freshwater lakes. As one legend says, a man
named Laird of Lorntie thought he saw a drowning woman in the lake. He would
have helped the drowning woman if not because of his servant who pulled him
back and told him that he would have been killed by the sighted creature.
On the other hand, in a website found in
http://www.steampunkandphenomena.com/Ri-Mermaids.html, mermaids are
also known for its different names. Mermaids are called Ri in the tropical waters
of Papua New Guinea and New Ireland. Ri is described as an air-breathing
aquatic mammal with a torso of a human but the lower body possessed no legs
ending with a pair of flippers. Both gender of Ri had long dark hair. Their face
looks like a monkey and with a fish-like mouth. They lived in the depths of water
where they catch and eat fishes as their food.
India also has their different description of mermaids. Even though they
have a human form, the Asparas of India shared the same characteristics of
mermaids. They also have the beauty and smell like that of the mermaids. They
are also known to be talented musicians and they also have the ability to
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foretell the future. Despite their mermaid-like characteristics, the Asparas do not
harm sailors; instead, they wanted to give happiness to all.
According to the prophet.tv website page, water spirits also
represent mermaids with the head of a lady and a tail of a fish instead of human
legs. In accordance to the vol.15, pages 196 of Britannica Encyclopedia,
merpeople are part of a race composed of half-human half-fish. They live in the
sea but they can also live on land. Some of their kind have the ability to live on
both land and water, some live only in stones and rocks, some in trees and
others in all types of waters.
While in a religions point of view, de Mason, S. stated in her website that,
Christian church defines mermaids as dangerous temptresses and had no souls
on their own. They use this definition in order to support the male domination
and in order to destroy the image of women. By saying that mermaids have no
souls suggests that women are unfaithful or faithless.
An article in the Cryptomundo website features a recorded sighting of a
mermaid which they called Kaaiman. Kaaiman is another term for mermaid.
They said that the Kaaiman produced the strangest sound like that of a crying
lady.

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Names may vary as places vary. Here is the list of some other names
of mermaids in some places (taken from
www.wellesley.edu/Psychology/Cheek/Narrative/myth.html).
Ben-Varry (Manx Mermaids); Catao (Hiligaynon); Caesg (Celtic --
part trout or salmon); Dinny-Mara (Manx Mermen); Havfrue
(Scandinavian Mermen); Havmand (Scandinavian Mermaid);
Meerfrau; Merefolk (Phillipine Merfolk); Merfish; Merlady; Merman;
Merpeople; Muirruhgach (Merrow -- Irish); Merrymaids (Cornish
Mermaids); Merwife; Morgens; Neck (Scandinavian fresh and salt
water Mermaids); Ningyo (Japanese human-headed fish of
immortality); Sea Maids; Sea Maiden; Sea People; Sea Queen; Siren;
Tritons; Undersea Folk; Underwater Folk; Water Babies; Water Maid.

Symbolisms
Aside from the definitions, Angus Hall also mentioned that mermaids also
have some hidden symbolisms and representations. There are several stories
which show that mermaids will take a payback when harmed in any ways. This
idea about mermaids may come from mans lustful imaginations of an
uncontrollable creature set on accomplishing her own goals. Another term for
the sexual representation of mermaids is the idea that mermaids are angels
fallen from above and that they only eat living flesh. By singing sweet melodies,
mermaids will be able to draw a sailor. If she wont be able to capture sailors
with her voice, she will rely on her one of a kind body scent that no man could
resist. If she already caught a victim, she will make him fall asleep and eat him
with her sharp green teeth.
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Furthermore, mermaids are often depicted holding a comb and a mirror.
The mirror is from the goddess Aphrodite which symbolizes her vanity and the
planet Venus. The comb is used to keep their hair tangle-free symbolizes
sexuality in Greeks. Thus, it is said that mermaid is a symbol for passion and
destruction.
According to the newworldencyclopedia.org website, mermaids were of
ten used in the decorations of medieval churches, British Isle in particular. They
are often depicted holding a mirror and a comb; however, they were also
believed to be the symbols of sins, pride, and beauty and lust. Holding a starfish,
mermaids represent a Christian soul that had been tempted by the deadly sin of
lust and were placed in Churches in order to remind people not to be tempted
by the evils.
In another culture, the website www.mermaid.net/mermaid stated that,
the British and the English people represented mermaids as bad omen rather
than good ones. They consider them to be bad omens because they believed
that mermaids were signs of a calamity or death for the sailors.
Origin
Mermaids were believed to be originated in myths and legends. The sun
god, Oannes, was the original representation of Mermaids. His name means the
great fish of the ocean. He was venerated by the Babylonians around 5000 BCE.
He is often depicted as a man wearing a fish cloak but later on, he was
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depicted as half man-half fish. He represents the positive values in relation to the
sea.
Another website (www.mermaid.net/mermaid) states that mermaids were
first mentioned five thousand years ago in the history of Mesopotamia. They said
that it was Oannes, a merman. Who rose everyday from the water and give
man knowledge and brought them so many things and educated them.
In addition, Linda S. Godfrey in her book entitled Lake and Sea monsters
pointed out that aside from god Oannes, another god from the Middle East was
Dagon or dagan. Dagon is a more modernized merfolk compared to Oannes,
he possessed human body and a fishtail in his lower body. Dagon was also said
to be name of the temple that Samson attacked after the Philistines were
helped by Delilah to capture him.
In the same book, Linda S. Godfrey also stated that the early people of
Egypt believed that the Nile River is where the mermaids and the mermen
originally started. Aside from having fish tails, these creatures were believed to
possess human legs and feet with webbed toes.
Furthermore, marinebio.org/oceans/mysteries mentioned that in Roman
and Greek mythology, Neptune and Poseidon are represented as having a
body of a man and fish below. They are also often depicted holding tritons. It is
a symbolism of the merpeople and triton as the child of the mighty god of the
sea.
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Mermaids were also shown in the bible during the great flood. An
illustration of a mermaid found in
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythiccreatures/water/mermaids.php,
showed a merman, and a merdog in the Nuremberg Bible of 1483. The
illustration showed the mermaid and merman stayed outside the Noahs ark. The
mermaid was shown holding and facing a hand mirror.
On the other hand, an article in http://ezinearticles.com/?Mermaid-
Mythology---Origins&id=85326 revealed that before the evolution theory of man
kind was created, ancient philosophers believed that life originated from the
sea. Aphrodite and Venus are related to the sea. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess
of love, means born from the foam of the ocean waves. Venus is also related in
a way that she was shown riding in a scalloped seashell. From these two
goddesses, the legend of the mermaids arose. Mermaids were said to be
beautiful and Venus and Aphrodite are famed for their beauty. Mermaids were
also said to be combing their hair while holding a mirror. Mirror and comb
symbolizes Venus. Tragic storms and ruled over the animals of the ocean are the
common characteristics of sea gods.
Mermaids were also mentioned in some stories. They are somehow related
to the sirens in Greek mythology. In Odyssey, Homer made mention of the sirens.
Sirens are half-bird half-human but later definition added the mermaid tail. Sirens
were believed to lure men to death. In order to escape death, Odysseus
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instructed his mean to cover their ears with wax except for him and instructed
them to tie him tightly so that he cannot be tempted to follow the melody and
drown himself.
In addition to the stories of mermaids, Angus Hall, in his book Monsters and
mythic beasts, wrote that in the 6
th
century A.D, there was a sad story of a
mermaid wanted to have a soul. According to the story, the mermaid was
deeply in love with a monk in Iona and visited him regularly and also asked him
to help her pray to God to give her the strength to abandon the sea and
establish a life on land with him. Together, they prayed so hard but no matter
how they try; the mermaid wasnt able to give up her home land. The story ends
with the mermaid crying and leaving the island with tears falling from her eyes.
The tears that had fallen from her eyes became pebbles of what people in Iona
now call the gray-green pebbles or the mermaid tears.
Another legend story of mermaids is the story of Lorelei which is mentioned
in the all about fairies website. Lorelei is a German legend of a mermaid
transformation of a young woman into a siren. According to the story, Lorelei is a
pretty young lady who is deeply in love to a man who then rejected her. Despite
this rejection, she still cannot resist those men who fell in love with her. So as a
punishment, she was sentenced to be a nun for her whole life. One day when
Lorelei was at the top of the cliff of the Rhine River. She gazed at the river and
saw a boatman down there. She then claimed that the boatman down there is
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her lover. With that, she jumped; death had turned her into a beautiful siren.
After that event, many sailors have been lured into the rocks with her beautiful
melody.
Furthermore, another legend of mermaids sprouted in Russia. Carlucci V
mentioned in his website that the Rusalkas in the Russian legends were believed
to be those women who were murdered before their wedding and were then
cursed to stay and live in the lakes in mermaids form. They will sing beautiful
songs in order to attract men and drown them they will be able to be free from
the curse if someone would avenge their death.
In addition, according to http://www.beautiful-mermaid-art.com/celtic-
myths.html, mermaids in Celtic legends are known to be good creatures but
when harmed, they reveal their evil side. There was a story in Scotland of the
Knockdolion family who had a huge house on the shore close Girvan. Every
night, a mermaid would sit on a rock, located near the house, and sing for
several hours. The woman of the Knockdolions felt that the voice of the mermaid
was disturbing her baby so she ordered her servants to destroy the rock. The
night after, the mermaid came and was surprised to see that her favorite rock
was already gone. The mermaid got mad so she sang a song which says death
to Knockdolion heirs and that there would be no heir to the throne. Not long, the
baby was found dead and its cradle was already upside-down, and all the
other children of the Knockdolion family died.
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Sightings
Mermaids were known to be mythical creatures and that they only exist in
legends but there are many sightings recorded that shows that they do possibly
exist.
Way back many years ago, in accordance to the blogspot of
MelusinaMermaid, Pliny the Elder wrote in his journal that he had seen a
mermaid and he also said that they are like humans only that they have scales
all over their body.
Another recorded sighting was published by Angus Hall in his book
monsters and Mythic Beasts. In the year 1403, a mermaid was caught after
being reported as floating through the damage dyke located near Edam in
Holland. Her story was unique from the other entire mermaid stories. She was
taught how to spin and follow her mistress for 15 years. When she died, she was
given a Christian burial.
To add more to the recorded sightings, an eBook from Google entitled
The Asiatic journal and monthly miscellany also mentioned another sighting in a
different place. In the year 1430, a mermaid was caught by the people in
Netherlands and she was taught to spin, eat and drink milk and bread but no
matter how people try to make her speak, she really cannot do it. The mermaid
lived with them for sixteen years and then she died. She was given a decent
burial because she lived with them for a long time.
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Another account was mentioned in the book of Funk & Wagnalls:
Standard dictionary of folklore; mythology and legend. In the west of Ceylon,
1560, some fishermen were able to catch a mermaid in a net which were then
taken ashore and then dissected by an educated physician. He then reported
that the creature possessed human features internally and externally.
Additionally, another famous sighting was made by an English explorer. In
the year 1608, an English explorer, named Henry Hudson, wrote in his logbook
that one of his company had seen a woman with a body and breast like that of
a human and a tail like that of a mackerel. Henry also said that the woman half-
human half-fish had a white skin and a long black hair.
Furthermore, one of the first reported mermaid sightings was made by
Valentyn, a captain of a ship, on his journey to Europe from Batavia. According
to the Google book the Asiatic Journal and Monthly miscellany, the creature
was seen sitting on the surface of the sea, with its back leaning towards their
ship. Its body was covered with a skin like that of a codfish with a torso of a
female.
Angus Hall also mentioned about the mermaid sightings reported in
Russia, Thailand, and from Scotland. Russians describe the mermaids as tall,
gloomy, and pale. In Scotland, in the year May 1658, mermaids were said to be
found in the mouth of the River Dee. It is also said that people who visit the area
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will be able to witness a group of admirable creatures, as promised by
Aberdeen Almanac to the people.
The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany recorded an account of
mermaids. In the year 1794, Captain Fortier caught a mermaid in the North seas.
It was then exhibited in the neighborhood of Covent Garden. Its upper body
was said to have the structure and features like that of a human, while its lower
body was like that of a fish with full of scales.
Moreover, in the year 1797, a Scotland campus head of Thurso, said that
he saw a mermaid in the sea near the shore. The mermaid was combing her hair
and really looked like a woman. The campus head would have believed it to be
an ordinary woman when he realized that it was impossible for an ordinary
woman to swim in those great waves of the sea.
An article in The Gatherer website also recorded an account of mermaid
sighting. On 1801, Dr. Chisholm published his essay on the malignant fever of
West Indies, which stated that he had seen a mermaid in Berbice. The mermaid
was just a mere myth but then it became their main topic because it appeared
repeatedly in the seas and even in the rivers. In India, it is called mene mamma
or the mother of the waters. He also described what the mermaid looked like.
Indians venerated this creature; they believed that such creature should not be
harmed because they might cause calamities. Therefore, they were just
observed from a distance in order to prevent such calamities.
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Way back in 1811, a man named John MIsaac of Corphine, Scotland,
made an oath before the temporary sheriff that he had seen a woman sitting
on the black-rock on the sea coast. He described every detail of what he saw
because he was able to see them woman for about two hours and then she
disappeared. When the minister of Campbeltown and the Cahmaerlain of Mull
examined his explanation, they did not find out any reason that could question
his explanation.
Mr. Toupin published an account of his extraordinary adventure, from
which the following is an extract:
The day (August 11, 1812) being very fine, I joined (says Mr.
T.) a party of ladies and gentlemen in a sailing excursion. When we
had got about a mile to the south-east of Exmouth-bar, our
attention was suddenly arrested by a very singular noise, by no
means unpleasant to the ears, but of which it is impossible to
give a correct idea by mere description. It was not, however,
inaptly compared by one of our ladies to the wild melodies of the
/Aeolian harp, combined with a noise similar to that made
by a stream of water falling gently on the leaves of a tree. In the
mean time, we observed something about one hundred yards from
us to windward. We all imagined it to be some human being,
though at the same time we were ata loss to account for this at
such a distance from the shore, and no boat near. We hailed, but
received no reply, and we made toward this creature as soon as
possible; when, to the great astonishment of us all, it eluded our
pursuit by plunging under the water. In a few minutes it rose again,
nearly at the same place; and by that time we had got sufficiently
near for one of the boatmen to throw into the water a piece of
boiled fish which he had in his locker. This seemed to alarm the
animal, though it soon recovered from its fears, for we presently
observed it to lay hold of the fish, which it ate with apparent relish.
Several other pieces were thrown out, by which the creature was
induced to keep at a short distance from our boat, and afford us
the opportunity of observing it with attention; and [we] found, to
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our astonishment, that it was no other than a Mermaid I As the sea
was calm, and in a great degree transparent, every part of the
animals body became in turn visible. The head, from the crown to
the chin, forms rather a long oval, and the face seems to resemble
that of the seal The upper and back part of the head appealed
to be furnished with something like hair; and the fore~part of the
body with something like down, between a very light fawn
and a very pale jrinJc colour, which, at a distance, had the
appearance of flesh, and may have given rise to the idea that the
body of the Mermaid is, externally, like that of the human being. This
creature has two arms, each of which terminate in a hand with four
fingers, connected to each ether by means of avery thin elastic
membrane. The animal used its arms with great agility; and its
motions in general were very graceful. From the waist it gradually
tapered, so as to form a tail, which had the appearance of being
covered with strong, broad, polished scales, which occasionally
reflected the rays of the sun in a very beautiful manner; and, from
the back and upper part of the neck, down to the loins, the body
also appeared covered with short round broad feathers, of the
colour of the down on the fore part of the body. The whole length
of the animal, from the crown of the head to the extremity of the
tail, was supposed to be about five feet, or five feet
and a half. In about ten minutes from the time we approached, the
animal gave two or three plunges, in quick succession, as if it were
at play. After this it gave a sudden spring, and swam away from us
very rapidly; and in a few minutes we lost sight of it.
The blogspot talesoffaerie also recorded different sightings on mermaids.
On April 15, 1814, a fisherman reported a sighting of a mermaid near Portgordon
in Scotland. On the year 1819, a mermaid with about the size of a ten year old
girl was seen off the coast of Ireland. The mermaid had a well formed breast like
that of a sixteen year old lady. It has long dark hair and full dark eyes. The
creature immediately disappeared with a scream when she saw a man trying to
shoot her. In the year 1834, Hugh Miller, a writer, tells of John Reid who heard a
woman singing and then spotted a mermaid with a long yellow hair. He caught
the creature and tried to make three wishes.
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Another account which shows the possibility of mermaids existence was
published on November 16, 1822 by the British publication. The Mirror published
ten different sightings of mermaids on the sea. In the year 1614, John Smith have
seen a mermaid, swimming gracefully, with large eyes and finely formed short
nose and well shaped ears that were too long. She had a long green hair by no
means unattractive. Smith would have begun to experience the first effect of
love until he found out that she was a fish from the waist down. In the year 1673,
John Jocelyn said that Mr. Miller, his friend, had seen a merman in Maines
Casco Bay. The merman tried to threaten his friend by putting one hand over
one side of the canoe. Using a hatchet, Mr. Miller chopped the mermans hand,
leaving the waters with purple blood. In his Natural History of Norway, Eric
Pontopildon wrote that about a mile from the coast of Denmark, close to lands
crone, three seafarers approached that body that they thought to be dead but
then it moved and went closer to them. It appeared to be an old man with a
healthy body, with broad shoulders, with short curled black hair and a beard,
and the lower body was pointed like a fish.
In accordance to the same blogspot website mentioned in the previous
lines, more mermaid sightings were published in a book in the year 1825. An
Antarctic explorer named James Wendell mentioned of a sailor hearing a
musical voice, which they found out to have a human form with long green hair
and tail like that of a seal. The creature then disappeared after noticing that it
was being observed.
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Furthermore, in the contemporary review Dr. Karl Blind in 1881, he tells that
merpeople and females of the British Isles wears sealskins as a disguised and
takes them off on land and act like a human. Any land folk who will be able to
get the skin will have a power over the animal.
In an article found on www.unknownexplorers.com/mermaids.php
entitled Mermaids, another mermaid sighting was mentioned. In the Outer
Hebrides, in the year 1830, a farm woman had seen a mermaid playing in the
water. They were not able to capture the creature but managed to kill it with a
stone. The dead body was then seen and interpreted by a well known scholar
named Alexander Cannichael.
To add, Hassam stated on his website
(hassam.hubpages.com/hub/Mysterious-Myths-About-Mermaids)
that on the year 1833, off the isle of yell, six fishermen were able to accidentally
catch a mermaid in their fishing line. They let the creature stay in their boat for
three hours. It did not offer any harm or attempted to bite them but it moaned
sadly. The creature was three feet long and was said to have bruises on her
head and shoulders. The creature possessed no gills nor fins nor any scales in her
body. Seeing that, the fisherman threw her back to the sea and the creature
was said to dive in a perpendicular direction.
Linda Godfrey also mentioned another sighting of a creature which
resembles a mermaid. On March 7, 1863, the Columbia Spy newspaper of
Pennsylvania reported that in the year 1823 in the off-coast of Southern
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California, Hernando Grijalva had seen a creature that can be defined as half-
monkey half-fish. The creature was called sea-ape with a color of porpoise and
scaly tail.
As noted by A. Hall in his book:
One was seen again in 1900 by Alexander Gunn, a landholder in
the far North of Scotland. While he and his dog were out rescuing a
sheep that had become stuck in a gully, he glanced up and locked
his eyes with a mermaid reclining on an adjacent ledge. With red-
gold wavy hair, green eyes, and arched eyebrows and she was
extremely beautiful. She was also of human size. He told a friend
later.I actually encountered a mermaid.
Another account of mermaid was mentioned in the steampunk and
phenomena website by M. Hardcastle. During World War II, a man named Rein
Mellaart who was stationed in the Navy of us on Morotai Island in Indonesia, as
said to encounter a real mermaid that was caught by the fishermen. When rein
Mellaart saw the creature looked like a human, he told the fishermen to free it
but the fishermen resisted and told rein that theyre not going to kill it because it
will just die itself. After trying to escape many times, the creature got tired and
wept like a crying baby. Mellaart ran quick in order to help but before he could
do so, the Ri had died. Mellaart described the creature as having an upper
body of a human and having a fish tail below the navel. It did not have a
beautiful face but it had a very pale complexion, a pointed nose and a very
thick long hair.
To add to the list of sightings, Tamarathemomacat of Google groups cited
that in the year 1947 on the Island of Muck, an 80-year old fisherman reported
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that he had seen a real mermaid sitting and combing her hair just several
meters away from the school. When the mermaid noticed that she had been
watched, it jumped to the sea and disappeared. The fisherman did not
questioned what he saw for he believed it was a real mermaid.
Victoria Ann, in her website, reported that on April 12, 1988, Jeff Leider
and together with the other divers has witnessed a mermaid following their boat
and they even got a picture of the mermaid which was examined by the
experts and proved to be a genuine picture.
More sighting of a mermaid was reported in Israel. Radford,B. reported
that Shlomo Cohen is one of the first people to see a mermaid in Israel. He said
that he was with his friends when they heard a woman crying and when they
approached her, they were surprised because she had a tail.
In connection with the sighting made by Shlomo and his friends, the Israel
tourism board has set a one million dollar reward to those who can give a
picture of the mermaid who performs few tricks on sunset in Israel.
To put the topic into motion, in a youtube video entitled Mermaids
explained, a man was able to accidentally caught a video footage of a
mermaid swimming really fast with her thin tail. Mermaids explained
Another video of a mermaid was posted in YouTube. The title of the video
is Real mermaid captured alive-Sirena Viva and was uploaded by
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ContactoParanormal. It was dated back on March 29, 2011 when a group of
fishermen were trying to get some fishes using their net. As to their surprise, the
fisherman was able to caught a mermaid but it was so aggressive that the
fisherman let it go.
Mermaid Hoaxes
Though there are sightings which prove the mermaids existence,
there are still hoaxes circulating around. According to the
newworldencyclopedia.org:
The most famous mermaid hoax was perpetrated in the mid-
nineteenth century by legendary showman P. T. Barnum. The
Feejee Mermaid was exhibited after Barnum had hired a phony
naturalist to support the mermaid's authenticity, and used
accomplices to send letters from various cities that spoke of the
fake "Dr. Griffin" and his remarkable mermaid. Woodcuts were given
to the newspapers, and audiences soon flocked to see the
beautiful, seductive creature pictured in the woodcut. Instead, they
found that the Feejee Mermaid was a grotesque combination
of ape and fish, and not at all what they had expected. In
actuality, the Feejee Mermaid was most likely the creation of
aJapanese fisherman sometime around 1810. Such half-fish half-
ape creatures were a traditional art form, and were often created
for use in religious ceremonies. Though the Feejee Mermaid was the
most famous, mermaids have been commonly found in carnivals,
traveling circuses and side shows. More recently, in the wake of the
2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, pictures of mermaids were
spread through the Internet. It was claimed that the photos were of
creatures that had washed up amid the devastation, but the very
same photographs had circulated in 2003, and were no more real
than Barnum's exhibit.

In addition to the mermaid hoaxes, an article found in
thehumanmarvels.com/?p=61 stated that the feejee mermaid is a creation in
order to represent the existence of mermaids but it is actually different from the
22

beautiful mermaids that people used to know. It has a horrifying look which is
the opposite of the mermaids having beautiful faces. P.T Barnum was said to be
responsible for the feejee mermaid. It was not his creation but he was
responsible for making the Fiji mermaid popular during the crux of Darwinism.
Furthermore, a picture of a mermaid has been circulating around the
globe, through emails, blogs, and forums since the year 2006(www.hoax-
slayer.com/malaysian-mermaid.html). The mermaid skeleton was said to be a
creation of a sculpture artist named Juan Cabana. He sold this masterpiece via
eBay auctions under the name Sea Mystery. Accoring to the information
available at the said website, the highest bid recorded was $1,550.00 US.
Cabana did not specifically put a description about his masterpiece. Instead,
he put some stories which talks that the mermaid skeleton was real and it was
found ashore.
Another video from YouTube shows an entirely fake skeleton of a mermaid
found ashore. The video is entitled Real Mermaid Found and was uploaded by
Srikanthboorela on December 14, 2009.
MANATEES AS MERMAIDS
In the Asiatic Monthly Journal, a group of experts explained that:
That the Seal, the Sea-cow, and the Porpoise may be suspected of
having severally deceived the eyes, or the information, of those
who have contemplated the supposed Mermaid in its native
element; while, with respect to such animals as have been
submitted to public inspection on shore, no alternative remains, but
23

either to disbelieve the accuracy of the accounts of those of former
times, and to refer those that we behold to imposture; or else to
admit the existence of an animal, such as the Mermaid is described
to us, and which has never yet (M. Artedi notwithstanding)
presented itself to the naturalist with such evidence of certainty as
to deserve a place in our Systems of Nature.
Moreover, another website
(www.history.com/this-day-in-history/columbus- mistakes-manatees-for-
mermaids) also believes that the mermaid sightings reported by the sailors were
most likely dugongs, manatees or stellers sea cows (which later became
endangered species because of over-hunting). Manatees are slow-moving
marine mammals with eyes like those of a human, round faces and huge tails.
The elephants are known to be the ancestors of the manatees. Manatees are
herbivores, they also have a slow metabolism and they can only survive in war
water. Manatees have a lifespan of 50 to 60 years and have no known
predators. In US, most of the manatees can be found in Florida, where many of
their kind die or injured every year due to in contact with the sailing boats.
In connection, to compare the similarities between manatees and
mermaids, superteacherworksheets website explained that it is possible that
manatees will be mistaken as mermaids. Sightings say that mermaids have very
long green hair. It is probably a manatee with sea grass on its head because this
creature likes to swim to those areas with sea grass.
Moreover, manatees have very strong tails like that of mermaids. The
sailors might have seen those manatees tail (when they go back to the depths
24

of the water) and thought that they have seen a mermaid with a tail. Another
resemblance of mermaids and manatees is the way they cradle their baby.
Manatees carry their young with its flippers.














25

CONCLUSION
Mermaids are mythological creatures. Some people believed that they
do not exist at all. Still, some people strongly believed that they do exist.
Even though there is no solid present solid proof of their existence, there
have been so many sightings recorded from the different parts of the globe.
Almost all of the accounts were just a mere sighting of the mermaid, while few
of the accounts showed that some people were able to caught one. The
sightings that were reported by the people in the past provided some of the
descriptions of the mermaids appearance based on what they saw. The
common description of mermaids is having a torso of a female and a lower
body of a fish and they are usually seen sitting on rocks and combing their long
hair.
Mermaid hoaxes were also created by famous sculptures or experts in
order to earn money and to trick the eyes of the people by making some
mermaid stories out of it. Despite the historical accounts recorded that showed
that mermaids do possibly exist, some people still believed that these creatures
were simply manatees, seals or dugongs that have deceived the eyes of the
observers.
The researcher in this study believes that the theory of manatees, seals or
dugongs as mermaids is not enough to explain that mermaids do not exist.
Manatees do not look like humans at all. Manatee also cannot sit on rocks and
26

comb its lovely hair. Mermaids were said to swim fast while manatees cannot.
With all these differences between manatees and mermaids, the researcher
strongly believes that mermaids which were believed to exist only in myths might
have existed in the real world.













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