Are Mermaids Real? (And Do They Exist?)
One of the most fascinating creatures, real or myth, are mermaids. That is because mermaids have always been some of the subjects of different movies and tales. There are even plenty of different younger women in the world that aspire to be mermaids or, at the very least, idolize mermaids. However, are mermaids even real, and do they actually exist?
Mermaids are not real and have never existed in the past. There is no evidence that is close to suggesting the possibility that mermaids have ever even existed at any time in history. It is most likely that sailors of the past mistook real animals such as seals and manatees as mermaids.
As intriguing and as inspiring as mermaids may be, the fact of the matter is that they are not real, and they have never been real. Like dragons, Big Foot, and the Loch Ness Monster, mermaids are simply the stuff of myth and legends born during the time when people did not really have a complete understanding of the world and when science did not have the luxury of technology by its side.
Are Mermaids Real?
The world is full of different animals and creatures that have always been captivating and awe-inspiring. Then there are creatures that we often only read in books or see in movies and television shows. These include dragons, sea monsters, fairies, and all sorts of different creatures. However, one of the most inspiring creatures that we know is the mermaid.
Mermaids are generally half women and half fish, with the lower half as the fish part. Think of them as women that have fish tails instead of legs. And the reason why mermaids have always been inspiring and are some of the favorite creatures, real or legend, is that they are usually portrayed as beautiful and elegant beings. This is why plenty of younger girls tend to admire mermaids, which are usually portrayed in cartoons and movies.
As inspiring and as beautiful as mermaids are when they are portrayed in literature and media, are they actually real? Are there real mermaids in the world that we live in?
The National Ocean Service of the US Department of Commerce actually released a short yet very impactful statement regarding the existence of mermaids. This message said that “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.” Of course, by saying aquatic humanoids, they mean to say, mermaids.
In short, the general consensus among different scientists and aquatic animal experts is that there are no mermaids because there are no pieces of evidence that would suggest that there is a possibility that they even exist.
And the reason why the National Ocean Service actually released that message is due to an Animal Planet documentary that showed scientists presenting evidence that mermaids exist.
However, that documentary was pure fiction and was presented in a way that seemed convincing even though the entire documentary was fake.
If you think about it, it also seems too farfetched to say that mermaids could exist in the world today, especially if you look at the entire physiology of a mermaid. It seems physically impossible for such a creature to exist because of how it has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish or any other aquatic creature with a tail. The biology of such a creature seems too impossible.
Of course, some people would argue that the ocean is so large and vast that it is impossible for us to completely say that mermaids exist.
In fact, less than ten percent of the world’s oceans have been explored and charted primarily because some parts of the ocean are so deep that there is hardly any light and that the pressure seems too heavy for exploration. This may lead some people to think that maybe mermaids actually exist in the deepest and darkest portions of the ocean.
Then again, if it is already too difficult for our technology to withstand the pressure and properly explore the deeper parts of the ocean, then the chances of mermaids living in those parts are slim. Mermaids would have to have really strong bodies that are capable of handling the pressure in the deepest parts of the ocean.
And if they are supposed to be half-human, then it would be impossible for them to survive in such depths because human bones can actually get crushed under the pressure of the deepest parts of the ocean.
Of course, in the hundreds of years that we have been studying the ocean, we have seen plenty of different sea creatures that are unique and seemingly impossible to fathom. However, there has never been any concrete evidence that suggests that mermaids could possibly exist and are just simply hiding somewhere in the ocean.
Did Mermaids Ever Exist in the Past?
While we did say that we do not have mermaids today, there are some people that would suggest that mermaids actually existed in the past. That is because plenty of the literature written hundreds or even thousands of years ago suggest the existence of mermaids. Most of these works came from the eyewitness accounts of sailors. So, did mermaids ever exist at some point in the past?
Similar to how we have no clear and concrete evidence that suggests that mermaids exist now, there is nothing that could scientifically suggest that mermaids existed at one point in the history of our planet.
We have dug up dinosaur bones and even discovered the fossilized remains of prehistoric sea creatures that existed millions of years ago. However, there has never been anything that closely resembles a mermaid.
So, if mermaids do not exist, why do some books and stories written in the past suggest that these creatures exist?
Most of the works of literature that talk about mermaids are written based on the accounts of sailors or people closely working or living near the oceans.
Such stories exist in plenty of different parts of the world, such as the western countries, Europe, and even Asia. Japan even has its own version of a mermaid, and a temple in Japan even carries the preserved remains of what people believe is a mermaid.
Going back to our point that sailors were often the primary source of stories about mermaids, it is easy to say that they may have mistaken different sea animals for mermaids.
This was quite common in the past because people did not have any proper means of explaining new animals in a scientific way. As such, it was easy for people in the past to have mistaken crocodiles and large lizards as dragons.
In the same way, sailors and fishermen could have possibly thought that animals such as seals, manatees, or even whales could have been mermaids. This is due to the fact that sailors of the past spent months or even years on the sea without seeing women.
The possibility was that missing women and not being able to see them for months or years had a psychological impact on sailors to the point that they mistook manatees or seals as mermaids. And if you consider the fact that the equipment they used for observing was still primitive, it might have been possible that they actually thought that seals or manatees were half women and half fish.
Such stories of people mistaking certain animals may have been the root source of tales about mermaids. And when one story gets passed on a lot from one generation to the next, different details are usually added and omitted to make the story more fantastic. It could have been possible that a sighting of a manatee became overblown to the point that sailors and storytellers began describing them as mermaids.
Are There Some Actual Mermaid Sightings?
While mermaid sightings hundreds or even thousands of years ago were quite common, if we look at the literature of that time, what you need to know is that such sightings have become quite rare ever since science and technology improved the way we understand our world.
However, there have been some unverified “sightings” of mermaids in different parts of the world. For example, in 2009, news broke out that there was a mermaid that was sighted somewhere on the coast of a town called Kiryat Yam, which is located in Israel. The people who witnessed the so-called mermaid said that it performed a few tricks before them and then suddenly vanished to never be seen again.
Shlomo Cohen, a witness of the said sighting, said, “I was with friends when suddenly we saw a woman laying on the sand in a weird way. At first, I thought she was just another sunbather, but when we approached, she jumped into the water and disappeared. We were all in shock because we saw she had a tail.”
Because of the alleged mermaid sighting, the town’s tourism boards saw a boom in its clout as plenty of people went to that town to try to catch a glimpse of the said mermaid. A $1 million reward was even offered for the first person to catch a photo of the mermaid. However, no one ever claimed the award as the mermaid was never seen again.
While the witnesses did say that they saw a mermaid, the sighting has never been verified because the only proof that they could offer was their word. There is no clear way of telling whether or not the story was real or whether or not what they saw as actually a mermaid.
Can Humans Be Mermaids?
Even though mermaids have never been proven to exist, plenty of people still admire them because of how they are often portrayed to be beautiful. So, can humans actually become mermaids? Well, if you wore a fishtail suit and then learned how to swim properly in the water with that suit on, then you could probably say that you are a mermaid. However, biologically speaking, there is no chance of a human ever becoming a mermaid.
How Does a Mermaid Sound Like?
Since mermaids are not real or, at the very least, have not been proven to be real, there is no way for us to tell how they sound like. However, the pieces of literature that talk about mermaids suggest that the sounds they make are high-pitched “songs.” This further suggests that the people who claimed to have seen mermaids hundreds of years ago probably saw a porpoise or dolphin because that is exactly what these sea animals sound like.
