Do Mermaids Really Exist? Researchers Continue to Seek Answers About the Existence of Mermaids as Depicted in Folklore Worldwide.
Anyone who has read Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale knows the touching story of the beautiful mermaid. Many believe that mermaids are purely fictional characters and do not exist. However, a considerable amount of evidence has been presented to suggest that mermaids could be real.
Recently, new evidence emerged supporting the existence of mermaids when two sailors diving in the depths of Greenland unexpectedly discovered a white hand resting on the submarine’s glass behind them.
The white hand raises questions about the existence of mermaids.
The hand had five fingers, four of which were fused together as if covered by a webbed membrane. However, many people believe that this image is merely a prank and is not convincing enough to prove that a creature “half human, half fish” truly exists.
In 2012, the Animal Planet channel aired a program presenting evidence that mermaids are real. This program appeared as a complete documentary, featuring interviews with “scientists and experts” analyzing and assessing the existence of this “half human, half fish” being.
The documentary aired on Animal Planet in 2012.
However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States officially responded and posted a statement on its website denouncing the inaccuracies in the Animal Planet program. They revealed that the “scientists” featured were actors hired for the show.
According to them, many rumors and a considerable number of past findings have made mermaids one of the greatest mysteries of the ocean. The belief in “half human, half fish” beings dates back to the dawn of humanity, as evidenced by cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic period, around 30,000 years ago, when humans began to set sail to conquer the seas.
Creatures resembling humans (collectively referred to as chimera) have also made waves in many mythological tales and legends. Since 1403, the discovery of numerous mermaid corpses has left archaeologists worldwide perplexed.
Historical Sightings of Mermaids
The earliest legends of mermaids date back to around 1000 BC, telling the story of a Syrian goddess who jumped into a lake to transform into a fish. However, the stunning beauty of the goddess could not fully transform, resulting in only her lower half changing. Since then, various cultures around the world have created stories about this mysterious creature.
Throughout history, even famous explorers have claimed to have seen mermaids. Among them is Christopher Columbus, who reported seeing a mermaid near Haiti in 1493, describing her as “not as beautiful as legend has it, although her face resembled that of a human.”
He noted that he had previously seen similar creatures along the West African coast.
According to the book “Speculum Mundi” published in 1635 by English Minister John Swan, mermaids quickly adapted to the lives of “naked humans.” They enjoyed wearing beautiful clothing, frolicking, and listening to ladies gossip, but never spoke a word.
The story became even more sensational when the press got involved. In 1738, a London newspaper published a shocking photograph claiming to prove that mermaids indeed exist. It was a picture of a small mermaid found on the Hebrides coast, who was stoned to death due to being mistaken for a monster.
Afterward, she was carefully buried. The villagers also strived to protect the tale of the mermaid, and anyone who expressed doubt was willing to swear that the story was entirely true.
When discussing the most famous mermaid, one cannot overlook the FeeJee mermaid, a creature with a grotesque face and a strange shape, measuring only 525 mm in length, 210 mm in height, and 212 mm in width.
First revealed to the public in 1842 in New York, FeeJee mesmerized curious onlookers.
Many believe that mermaids are merely products of human imagination.
A gentleman claiming to be “Dr. Griffith” assured that this was “100% a real mermaid caught by a Japanese fisherman.”
From then on, the FeeJee specimen was mounted and became more popular than ever. For a long time, it was displayed at the Barnum Museum as one of the most solid pieces of evidence supporting the existence of mermaids.
To this day, replicas of the FeeJee mermaid can be found in many places, but the original was completely destroyed in a fire at the Barnum Museum in the early 1860s.
Currently, a version of FeeJee is preserved at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. FeeJee was a phenomenon that puzzled scientists of the time as they could not explain the existence of this bizarre creature.
The FeeJee mermaid.
Images of FeeJee continued to circulate in newspapers with claims such as “The Mermaid Returns” and “The Mermaid is No Longer a Legend.” However, many still doubted the existence of mermaids, which only intensified the interest of researchers in the FeeJee specimen.
The Truth About the FeeJee Mermaid
FeeJee is also known as the “Monkey Fish” because this bizarre specimen has the upper body of a monkey and the lower half of a fish.
This specimen is composed of 60% human bones in the upper half and 40% fish bones in the lower half, according to Juanita Hollis, an expert at the University of Cambridge, England. This statement provides a basis for believing in the existence of mermaids.
Model of FeeJee.
It began to be thought that just as humans evolved from apes, mermaids might have originated from the monkey fish species.
Some even suggested that FeeJee could be the last ancestor of mermaids, having gone extinct due to climate change and transformations of the earth’s surface.
In 2011, a research team from St George’s University made a startling conclusion that shook the scientific community, asserting that FeeJee was essentially a hoax.
It was a sophisticated grafting of a monkey’s body and a fish’s tail. The research team used advanced technology to thoroughly investigate the composition of this monkey fish. In March 2011, they X-rayed the monkey fish specimen at the Horniman Museum.
James Moffatt, a physiologist at St George’s, presented surprising results: “We used modern technology such as CT scans, X-rays, microscopes, and 3D printing for our examination. The results showed that the monkey fish specimen was actually made from paper, leaves, iron wire, clay, fish bones, and chicken feet. There were no traces related to monkeys“.
FeeJee is called “Monkey Fish” because this bizarre specimen has the upper body of a monkey and the lower half of a fish.
Thus, the FeeJee was initially created as a good luck charm for fishermen venturing out to sea, but unexpectedly, it gained fame, leading many to believe more in the existence of mermaids.
Following the announcement, scientists continue to question the authenticity of previous stories. Are they real or not? Regardless of whether mermaids exist or not, they remain a beautiful image in the minds of many. People still hold onto the hope that one day they will see a mermaid in the flesh rather than a fabricated mummy.
