Are Mermaids Real?

Captain John Smith's real mermaid

One of those stories being from a sea captain “Captain John Smith” who described how he saw a mermaid swimming with such grace, her eyes were large and she had a finely shaped short nose and well-formed ears that he said were rather too long! Her hair was long and green which he went on to state “imparted to her an original character that was by no means unattractive”. In fact Smith fell for the mermaid’s beauty and started to fall in love with her until he had the realisation that she was a fish from the waist down.

Infamous Christopher Columbus real mermaid story

Another encounter, and probably one of the most famous, came from Christopher Columbus.  Columbus had claimed he had spotted mermaids near Haiti in 1493 which he went on to describe them as being “not as pretty as they were depicted, for somehow in their face they look like men” a quote taken from the American Museum of Natural History. 

Modern mermaids - New Zealand

More recently sightings have been seen around the world, in 2012 workers were reported to have been scared off a dam they were working on by an irate mermaid and then more recently in 2014 fishermen claimed to have found remains of a mermaid in the South Island of New Zealand.

Fiji / Feejee mermaid

This "real" mermaid is probably one of the most famous ones due to this mermaid remains having a large number of replicas and therefore photo proofs!

Fishermen in certain areas were known for manufacturing mermaids by stitching bodies of little mammals, such as apes onto the fish bodies to create the mermaid looking creatures. They didn't look like beautiful charming women at all.

Fiji mermaid, also known as Barnum's mermaid was bought by the American captain Samuel Barrett Edes from Japanese sailors in 1822. The mermaid remains changed a few owners and ended up sold to the famous showman Phineas Barnum who was known for his passion to hoaxes and curiosities. Barnum invited a naturalist to examine the mermaid and even though he wasn't convinced it was real, he couldn't prove it is was a man-made creation as he couldn't understand how it was manufactured.

The Fiji mermaid was displayed in numerous places including the American Museum of Natural History. It has been lost during the multiple fires in the 1860th.

In conclusion there is no real scientific evidence of their actual existence but none either to conclude that they are just a fantasy.  We love the idea of their existence and relish in their fantasy.  We can now even become mermaids ourselves and swim freely in the sea or pool in our own mermaid tails, mermaid tops, mermaid leggings, monofins and amazing mermaid accessories.  Whether we are an adult or a child there are mermaid tails out there for all to experience this amazing phenomenon.

Visit our shop to view our latest in amazing mermaid tails for kids and adults alike!

Keep mermaiding