When you purchase through links on our site , we may pull in an affiliate charge . Here ’s how it work .
The National Ocean Service ’s June 27 bill that mermaids do n’t exist may seem an curious fit for a government federal agency that concentrate on real ocean phenomena . But grant to a spokesperson the mermaid put up is just one way to train people , and perhaps bust somemermaidmyths .
The timing of the post seems to concur with the Animal Planet show " mermaid : The Body Found , " which came out at the end of May and explored whether there is " a center of Sojourner Truth that lives beneath the legend ofthe mythic mermaid , " according to the show ’s verbal description .
The “Little Mermaid” statue in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Not so , says the National Ocean Service ( part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , NOAA ) . " No evidence ofaquatic humanoidshas ever been found , " part of the C. W. Post reads . Nevertheless , a NOAA representative would not confirm that the post was in lineal answer to the show , which was presented in documentary data formatting .
The reference to " aquatic humanoids " advert to a controversial hypothesis called the aquatic copycat hypothesis , which suggest humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past . Called " pseudoscience " by anthropologistJohn Hawks on his blog , this theory is not supported by most scientist .
The Animal Planet sum-up says its show is " a report about evolutionary hypothesis ground in a basal scientific possibility – the Aquatic Ape Theory , which claims that humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past tense . "
The mermaids Emily Post is part of the Ocean Facts section of the National Ocean Service internet site to answer inquiries they encounter . Since October 2008 , they have posted 195 ocean fact items .
" The timing was around that time . I think the TV show came out around Memorial Day and we got a few of the questions [ about mermaid ] , " Keeley Belva , representative for NOAA ’s National Ocean Service , told LiveScience . " Arguably , yes , the timing is tied to the docudrama . "
She supply , " As we had gotten a couple questions about mermaids , we thought this would be a fun way to talk about it and to have information up about mermaid in different finish and to draw people into our internet site and learn more about what NOAA and the National Ocean Service does . " [ Top 10 Mythical Creatures ]
In popular myth , mermaids are half - human , half - fish Delilah of the ocean . As the ocean facts post points out , they " are legendary sea creature chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial . " For case , Homer publish of them in the ancient Greek epic " The Odyssey , " and in the Far East , mermaids were consider the wives of powerfulsea tartar , serving as trusted messengers between the married person and emperor butterfly of the land .
In fact , the scientific grouping Sirenia , which includesmanateesand their tight congener the dugong make out from mermaid legend . Sailors long ago mistake these prominent blue maritime mammals for mermaid , or enchantress who sang call to tempt ships into rocky shore . Legend has it that Christopher Columbus recorded a sighting of a Trichechus manatus , say he was surprised at the not - so - beautiful " mermaid , " according to the Dolphin Research Center in Florida .
The aboriginal people of Australia had their own name for mermaid , yawkyawks , which could refer to the sirens ' allegedly magnetise Sung . In fact , as far back as 30,000 years ago when man were becoming the dominant species of the land , and possibly taking to the sea , they seem to have imagined magical female figure . These bod first appear in cave picture at the time .
" Half - human creatures , called chimeras , also abound in mythology — in add-on to mermaid , there were wise centaurs , savage satyr , and frightful minotaurs , to name but a few , " according to the NOAA vane posting .
Even today , " mermaid " sighting still happen . For instance , in 2009 in the Israeli town of Kiryat Yam , locals and tourists clump to the coast in Bob Hope ofglimpsing an alleged mermaidthat resembled a cross between a Pisces and a young girl ; apparently she would only appear at sunset .
