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Showing posts with label Merfolk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merfolk. Show all posts

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Ten Mermaid Sightings

10 Credible Mermaid Sightings? (+Videos)

By , Epoch Times | September 21, 2013

Last Updated: September 23, 2013 3:03 pm
[Note, this article is reposted as a news item and not as any kind of endorsement necessarily-DD]

Screen capture from the footage of the mermaid sighting of on March 6, 2013, by marine geologist Torsten Schmidt. (Screenshot/Youtube)

Screen capture from the footage of the mermaid sighting of on March 6, 2013, by marine geologist Torsten Schmidt. (Screenshot/Youtube)

Mermaids have been a subject of fascination for centuries. Cultures from all over the world, that had no contact with each other, have mermaids in their folklore, all with very similar descriptions. From these stories and modern movies everyone know what mermaids are, but few people have been able to provide evidence to testify to their existence. Skeptics are many, but there are also those who believe. For those intrigued by the question of whether or not mermaids exist, see below for a handful of documented mermaid sightings—then decide what you believe.

1. May 2013 – Kiryat Yam, Israel

Kiryat Yam is the only place in the world where a $1 million reward is up for grabs for the first person who can provide conclusive footage capturing a real mermaid. The local government has offered this reward in response to the numerous mermaid sightings there.
Allegedly there is a mermaid that appears sometimes at sunset. One of the first people to see the mermaid was Shlomo Cohen: “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,” Cohen was quoted as saying by Israel National News.

See the short clip featured below for a taste of what some are claiming to be a real mermaid caught on camera this year, at Kiryat Yam


2. March 2013 – Greenland Sea


This year, on March 6, 2013, marine geologist, Dr. Torsten Schmidt, released extraordinary footage of what he believes to be a mermaid that he captured on camera during one of his deep-sea explorations.
Contracted by the Iceland GeoSurvey, Dr. Schmidt and his Danish team worked on “seismic mapping and sampling of the ocean floor” to locate promising sites for oil and natural gas reserves.
At nearly 3,000 ft (1,000m) below the ocean’s surface, Dr. Schmidt reported not only seeing some interesting phenomenon, but also hearing some remarkable things. After reporting to the Iceland GeoSurvey about the strange sounds he heard when he was scanning the ocean floor, he requested to undertake an investigation, which was declined.
“We were reminded of our confidentiality agreements. And we were told we could not share our recording with anyone else,” Dr. Schmidt told journalist Jon Frankel on Animal Planet’s documentary, “Mermaids: The New Evidence.”
Dr. Schmidt ended up conducting his own investigation where he “took down two cameras on every dive, just in case we see them.” Commenting on his footage, Dr. Schmidt said Jon Frankel, “well I looked at it, and knew I was looking into the face of another intelligent species, like us.”


3. 2012 – Zimbabwe, Africa


Mermaids have been sighted on a number of occasions in Zimbabwe. It’s claimed that efforts to complete the building of dams were delayed by mermaids. Apparently, mermaids had harassed the workers when installing water pumps. “All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there,” Minister Nkomo was reported as saying in Zimbabwe’s state-approved Herald newspaper.
“We even hired whites thinking that our boys did not want to work but they also returned saying they would not return to work there again,” Nkomo added.

4. August 1991 – South Africa


About 30 percent of the remains of an unknown, humanlike creature were found in the belly of a dead great white shark in Southern Africa. The body was then examined and it was determined to have hands and a humanoid skull. A stingray barb was left jammed in the shark’s jaws, and this is claimed to be a mermaid’s weapon.
RECOMMENDED:  Mermaids Are Real Say Columbus, Shakespeare, and Pliny the Elder

5. 1967 – British Columbia, Canada


A sighting occurred when tourists who were on a ferry saw a woman with the tail of a dolphin. She was described as having beautiful blonde hair and was seen eating salmon. It was reported in the Times-Colonist newspaper and drew a lot of attention, but no one has since spotted it again.

[Reports continue all along the coast and including California, but many of the reports do NOT say the "Mermaids" were good-looking. I have some reports which were sent to me personally and they stated the "Merfolk" creatures were hairy and ugly and looked bestial or had apelike or monkeylike faces-DD]

6. 1943 – Kei Islands, Indonesia


In 1943, at the time of World War II, several mermaids were spotted by Japanese soldiers on the shores of the Kei Islands in Indonesia. They reported seeing them swimming in the water, and one on the beach. A description of the one sighted on the beach is as follows: roughly 4-foot 9-inches (150 cm) tall, pinkish skin, human looking face and limbs, spikes along its head, and a mouth like a carp.
When Sgt. Taro Horiba heard news of a dead mermaid that was washed up on the shore, he went to examine it. After seeing it with his own eyes he was convinced. After his return to Japan, he urged scientists to go and study such mermaids, however his claims were turned down as they didn’t believe him, hence no investigation was undertaken.
Locals refer to mermaids as Orang Ikan, or “fish people” in Malay. There have been several such sightings in the area, and apparently mermaids have been reportedly been caught in fishing nets on the odd occasion.
[And of course Japanese fishermen still report them-DD]

7. August 1886 – Cape Breton, Canada


This reported mermaid sighting from Canada in 1886 is quoted by zoologist Dr. Karl Shuker on his website. The report comes from the Cape Brooklyn Eagle newspaper in August, 1886
“The fishermen of Gabarus, Cape Breton [an island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada], have been excited over the appearances of a mermaid, seen in the waters by some fishermen a few days ago. While Mr. Bagnall, accompanied by several fishermen, was out in a boat, they observed floating on the surface of the water a few yards from the boat what they supposed to be a corpse. Approaching it for the purpose of taking it ashore, they observed it to move, when to their great surprise, it turned around in a sitting position and looked at them and disappeared. A few moments after[,] it appeared on the surface and again looked toward them, after which it disappeared altogether. The face, head, shoulders and arms resembled those of a human being, but the lower extremities had the appearance of a fish. The back of its head was covered with long, dark hair resembling a horse’s mane. The arms were shaped like a human being’s, except that the fingers of one hand were very long. The color of the skin was not unlike that of a human being. There is no doubt, that the mysterious stranger is what is known as a mermaid, and the first one ever seen in Cape Breton waters.”

8. June 1737 – Spain


Shuker quotes another newspaper report from Daily Kennebec Journal of Augusta, Maine, 24 June 1873:
“About the same time [c.1737] a story came from Virgo, in Spain, to the effect that some fishermen on that coast had caught a sort of a merman, five feet and a half from head to foot. The head was like that of a goat, with a long beard and moustache, a black skin, somewhat hairy, a very long neck, short arms, hands longer than they ought to be in proportion, and long fingers, with nails like claws; webbed toes, and a fin at the lower part of the back.”

9. June 1608 – Henry Hudson Near Russia


Henry Hudson, explorer and discoverer of the Hudson River, records seeing a real mermaid near Russia. He wrote in his log: “Two crew members—Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner—sighted a mermaid at 75° 7′ N, and shouted at the rest of the crew to come and look.” Hudson further recorded it as having a “tail of a porpoise and speckled like a mackerel.”

10. January 1493 - Christopher Columbus’s travels


Christopher Columbus has reported sighting mermaids whilst he was out at sea. He stated, “They were not as beautiful as they are painted, although to some extent they have a human appearance in the face….”

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/294466-10-credible-mermaid-sightings-videos/?sidebar=related-below

[The Primary source for Documented Mermaid sightings is the book Sea Enchantress -DD]




Friday, 18 April 2014

New Research on Morag

Legend of Loch Ness to be overshadowed as new monster mystery is unearthed

THE Loch Ness monster may have some competition from another elusive Scottish beastie, as stories of Morag the monster dating back more than 100 years have been unearthed by academics.

 

Sunday, 15 December 2013

Mermaid Photo?

From Mulder's World on Facebook, Yesterday:

Alleged Antarctic Creature



 This photo is one of two taken by a Japanese fishing crew in the Antarctic ocean.

Historically called a "Ningen" by the Japanese, it is said to resemble a giant human and similar to the mythical Mermaid. Unlike... the storybook mermaids, these creatures are extremely ugly and have been reported to attack smaller fishing boats.

 Credit: yuku.com
 
[If this is true the stories are about "Mermen" and not mermaids per se. I have a small file of similar reports made off of California. However the second photo of this set shows a beluga whale and photoshop is suspected in this one-DD]

Saturday, 31 August 2013

More Sea Serpents from Ivan Sanderson's Files

From the same source (The Greatest Study) by way of the Lake Monsters Facebook page. I apologise for any duplications of any material posted on this blog in earlier installments:

Sea Serpents. Reports.
As you can see, they are mainly US coastal cases. What you have are: 1). a "water elephant" from the Rio de la Plata in Uruguay [greater than five meters in length {good} and having pinkish spots {not so good}] [Could be an ordinary elephant seal, at one part of the year their skins peel off in irregular  and can be bloody, and hence pinkish-DD]
2). a "...sea monster" from Deception Bay, near Brisbane, Australia [with a 3' wide head and prominent eyes held above the water; no neck, possibly meaning serpentine];[also possible Elephant seal-DD]

3). a "monster" from Tampico Bay, Mexico [4' long plus half-moon tail, and six feet thick; sharp teeth and flippers ---a manatee??];

4). a "sea serpent" from Venice beach, CA [16' long with a serpent's head and a fin tail, estimated weight about 800 lbs];

5). a "[?Lobster, AKA "Specs"-DD]" from Miami Beach, CA [5 & 1/2' cylindrical body standing 3' high on eight hairy legs and eyes on stalks --- yep, that's the one I want to go after];

6). a "blob" from Delake Beach, OR [a 22' length whatever with a 4' body like a cow's and 9 "tails". A hairy chest". Scientists said: a piece of a whale; a whale shark; a squid.];

7). a "sea serpent" from Cadboro Bay, BC [ 35-40' long with snake-like head; body 1' diameter; can raise 4-5' out of water; dark color; coiled at about 6-7' --- well, at least we meet one old friend in these reports --- hello, Caddy];

8. a "seal serpent" [spelling on purpose] from Racoon Straights San Francisco Bay [10' long with seal's head and bluish-gray coloration];

9). a complete mystery thing from Sandy Hook, NJ [ a 40-50' long transparent cylindrical thing, 1/2' in diameter, undulating along beneath the surface like "fluid glass"-called a Venus' Girdle-DD];

10). a "sea serpent" from Ifafa Lagoon, Natal [ a serpentine body fronted by a pig-like face with bulging eyes staring at the witness at the waterline]; [Another possible Elephant seal-DD]

11). a "sea monster" from Marshfield, MA [ an elongated body about keg-thickness and two fins about twelve feet from the tail (tip?); an alligator-like head and gobbling fish --- one of my favorite kinds of sea serpents and maybe the only one I think could be a real animal];

12). a "serpent?" from Sutherland, CA [ an elongated thing swimming with its head raised 4' above the water].

Story #13: Shuyak Island [near Kodiak], Alaska. Glob on the beach. 30' long, headless "sea elephant" in state of decay. Had two hand-like front feet. A tail like a whale. Three-quarter inch thick brown-yellow "fur" on body. [Decayed whale-DD]

#14: Qualicum, Victoria, British Columbia. 30' long "sea serpent". Three heads [!!!]. Center head at end of trunk like neck. Other two at ends of necks branching off three feet below. Necks hairy and 12-18" thick. [Hairy indeed].[Three seals seen but combined by some funny journalism-DD]


#15: Near Mombasa, East Central African coast. A large animal seen just below the surface. This is known locally as the "Kilindini monster" and has allegedly been seen many times over the years.

#16: Pennock Island, SE Alaska. "Sea serpent". Flathead, cow-like shaped. Large goggle eyes. Curved neck. Body has a row of fins [humps] on back. Body "loops" as it swims.

#17: Northern Scotland. Historical tale: In the time of King Olof 14th, sailors would come across a Lorelei in these islands, who would make a sound so soothing that they would go to sleep or be entranced. It was a "sea troll" and referred to as female. Its head was like a horse's, with huge green eyes and strong jaws. Its body was like a serpent's and shaggy like a seal. It ended in a broad tail. [ a classic mermaid without the pretty girl, which to me is leaving out the best part ... but I bow to "reality" if that resides in here].

#18: Girvan, Scotland. "Sea serpent". Part of a representative of which was felt to be found decaying on a beach. "In life" allegedly seen to be a long body which swims with coiled motion and creating "humps" as it goes. A long neck [4'] and a "dragonish" head. The object on the beach had a skull reportedly weighing 17 lbs. [Basking shark-DD]

#19: Orkney Island, Scotland. "Sea serpent". Elongated body. [about 25']. Showing three humps as it swam. A long neck sometimes raised out of the water, and shaped like a cow's head.

#20: Cinsta, near E.London, South Africa. [extremely limited report]. Unknown sea creature, like a long-necked lion in shape [body not described]. Brown-skinned.[Likely Elephant seal again- DD]

#21. Off Soviet Research Station, Antarctica. "Sea serpent". 49' long. Light brown. Moved like snake with "convulsive movements". Labelled a "sea snake".[Whale-eater report, several other such reports in series, some reportedly twice that length-DD]

#22. Newport Beach, CA. "Sea monster". Estimated 20 tons [though not on basis of any carcass]. Round head held about 4' high out of water. Two-foot-wide mouth. Head described as "thorny" and one horn noticeable. Colored a "sickly green".

#23. Yarmouth, United Kingdom. Very poor quality photograph of a "sea serpent being held on the beach, my estimate from the size of the men= about 25-30' long. Photo from 1897. [Hoax-DD]

#24. Caddy country, British Columbia. A handful of clippings about one of our favorite critters. I'll try to summarize these clippings in a supplementary posting. I'll also try to get a scan of the Yarmouth "sea serpent" up later.

Case #25: off Brockton, MA, 1964. Minimalist report of a "sea monster" with a series of humps on its back.

#26: Mann Hill Beach, Scituate, MA, 1970. Another minimalist report. This time: thirty foot long "sea creature" like an Elasmosaurus. [Actually a basking shark-DD]

#27: Atlantic Ocean off South American coast [latitude 34.50 south; longitude 48 west]. 1824 0r 1834 [case is listed two ways on two different documents]. A "serpent", 40-foot long, no appendages, dark colored. Body = "barrel-sized" in diameter. Head held two feet above the surface and the size of a "ten-gallon keg".

#s 28&29: Gloucester Bay, MA, 1835 & 1834. Very long sea creature with head as big as a barrel and a "mane" on its neck. Head was raised seven to eight feet above surface as it swam. Motion was "serpentine". Each time it rose it made a hissing sound like steam escaping. Seen by several crew members. When told, another crewman said that he had seen an animal matching the description exactly while on the Bay the previous summer.[The brig Mangehan: it is really not known what was seen the year before-DD]

#30: Labrador Sea, 1834. On a voyage from Montreal to Greenock, UK, there was seen the head and "snout" of a "great fish" resting on the surface of the water. The head was twelve feet to its dome above the surface and 25 feet wide/long. The "snout" was 50 feet long. One very large dark "eye" stared out of the side of the head. The whole thing was colored a mottled light and dark green. The skin had a ribbed texture and the thing swam as fast as the ship.[Dead whale floating on the surface belly up
#31: Camp's Bay, near Capetown, South Africa, 1845 or 1846. Observers saw a line of shining black objects like "casks" bobbing up and down. The line was 150-200 feet long. Object was one thing however as it showed in its entirety above the water during one sequence. This was one of those possibly paranormal days of water as smooth as glass; nevertheless, the thing produced frothing foam at one end. "Animal" suddenly turned and swam swiftly away.

#32: Table Bay, near Capetown, South Africa, 1857. This is the case of the drawing in the accompanying illustration above. Report is fragmentary. Case  involved a blob-like body with an extremely long "tentacle" or tail [I am just interpreting the drawing now; there was little in the partial clip --- note, by the way that the pictured clip speaks of more than one case]. One witness fired two shots at the thing. It apparently whipped around radically between shots.[Portugese Man-o-war kind of a thing-DD]
#33&34: Waters between Ireland and Bristol Channel, 1907? [reference in notebook does not have a date.] This is the Arthur Rostron case [and a supporting one]. Rostron and deckhands see "sea serpent" head and neck rise out of water nearby ship. Head elevated 8 or 9 feet from surface. Its neck was a foot in diameter. The head turned with suddenness like a bird's does as it hunts the ground. Later in port at Queenstown, Rostron and his captain heard of a report by a fisherman who had a confrontation with a "sea serpent" near the Bristol Channel the following day.

#35: 38degrees south/ 13degrees east roughly in the Cape of Good Hope area, 1855. On another of those remarkably calm smooth water days, a huge thing raised its head 30 feet out of the water. The head was about twelve feet long. The body was black and estimated at 180 feet long. It was 20 feet in diameter. There was a white stripe down the side of the head, and a "pouch" of lighter-colored loose skin under the chin. On its back was at least one "protuberance" shaped like a small water cask.

[Heuvelmans says this is a baleen whale-DD]

 #36: Lochs, Lewis, UK/ 1856. A "sea serpent" manifested in an inland lake near the ocean. It was 40 foot long.

#37: 29-degrees north/ 34+degrees west [roughly in the area of the Azores]/ 1856. In a sea so calm it was "glassy", an elongated undulating thing broke the surface, swimming strongly and creating ripples. It was 40 feet long and swam with its head raised.

#38: Near Bathurst, South Africa, coming from Madagascar or Mozambique area/ 1863. A huge "snake" manifest. It was about 100 feet long and swam with both head and tail out of the water. Its body was about a foot in diameter and dark brown. There was a "mane" on its head.

#39: 19-degrees south/ 10.6-degrees west [roughly near St.Helena Island]/ 1858. An "enormous sea serpent" swam rapidly with the ship, holding its head 20-30 feet out of the water.

#40: Waimarara Beach, New Zealand/ 1950. A carcass washed up on the beach [near Hastings] which was 30 foot long and with a head three feet wide. Described alternately as a "sea serpent", a huge "alligator-like" monster, or a decayed whale, the thing was stated as having one tusk sticking out of its head. A scientist said it was a Layards Whale, despite the fact that they only grow half this size

#41: Gloucester, MA/ 1817. Brief mention of this encounter with the "huge serpentine" monster with the head the size of a horse.

#42: Off the coast of Brazil [no further location given]/ 1905. A large strange animal with a head and neck like a huge turtle [raised up eight feet out of the surface], showed nearby a ship. It seemed to have "rubbery" skin. {My moneys on something in the "sea lion family" on this one}.

#43: During a military blockade in the North Sea/ 1917. An animal similar in description to the previous "turtle" surfaced and was fired upon by the British Navy.

#44: Long Beach Island, NJ/ 1906. This is the report which goes with the illustration/news story on this page. A "great snake" greater than 60 feet
long raised its head twenty feet above the surface. The head was like an eel's, but four feet in diameter and having eyes the size of dinner plates. Its mouth was four feet wide. The animal was black and its texture slick. No fins nor protuberances were seen. There was a flabby loose-skin gathering under its chin. It swam like slithering. This thing is a bit like a junior version of #35.

Case #45: Some year just after the turn of the century, c.1900 --- Prout's Neck. ME. Witnesses waving and shouting on shore. Fishermen rowed in direction of pointing. Close to the beach under the shade of trees floated a "sea monster". It was an "enormous snake" with a flat head widening at the rear. It was similar to the famous incident at Nantucket. The animal floated there with its head raised well out of the water. When it finally focused on the fishermen, who were right up to it, it calmly turned and swam away to sea.

#46: Cape Ferrat Bay, Bay of Biscay [no date given on this mini-clipping]. Carcass [we have three such carcass cases this time, so I've regaled us with a random carcass picture for visual stimulation]. This one was said to resemble a sea elephant 13 feet long and 9 feet wide. It weighed several tons. Huge ears protruded from on top of its flat head. Its feet were webbed and it had thick black body hair.

#47: Gloucester, MA, 1960. Witnesses reported a "sea serpent" 70 feet long with a snake-like head colored black and white. It had "bulging eyes". Unfortunately for our wonderment, another story said that the thing was just 15 feet long.[That would be the head and neck-DD]

#48: Suez, Egypt, 1950. Carcass. 36 feet long and 7 feet thick. Twin seven foot tusks protruding from head with a vestige of a trunk. Speculation was that a normal elephant had somehow died at sea.
[Actually a decayed whale-DD]

 #49: Saco River, ME, 1967. Carcass. An 8 foot skeleton with a head like a snake. It had fins and some "feathers" [!!] clinging to the bones.[Also cited as a"Thunderbird carcass", the head elsewhere compared to that of a horse-DD]

#50: Research Submarine, Atlantic Ocean Gulf Stream, 1969. [picture at left is not this but sort of gets the major point across anyway]. Research team saw schools of black-colored fish 30 foot long as average. Also spotted a huge Medusa Jellyfish four feet in diameter with 30 foot long tentacles. They were convinced that there is a whole lot of weird stuff down there.

#51: Hamilton, Bermuda, 1960. Seven witnesses saw a creature greater than 30 foot long and shaped like a serpent ['tubular']. It was black colored. A local scientist was quoted saying that he thought it must be a whale, a porpoise, or rubber tyres. [<-- Bermuda is British, remember]. Unfortunately for him, three of the witnesses were nuns. Sister de Chantel followed his opinion with: "I know a whale, a porpoise, or a rubber tyre when I see one. I saw a sea serpent!". And, if he has any sense, that will end THAT debate!!

#52: Burra Isle, Shetland Islands, 1903. The crew of a fishing boat saw an animal 30 foot long, with a horn on its head and enormous flippers [one was seen; presumed two]. The thing destroyed several nets. Later in the year, in two incidents with four witnesses each, something was seen in the same location which was described as a "sea monster". {Possible Basking Sharks-DD]

#53: Off the Maldive Islands, WW2 era, but exact year unspecified. British Admiralty trawler. This is another one of those "sea as smooth as glass" cases. It was nightshift and the sea was full of phosphorescence. [ strange balls of light were constantly floating by]. They fished at night by setting down towards the surface a bright lantern-like light. All manner of sea life were always attracted to it. The scene was, in fact, described as consistently magical to watch. This night, suddenly, all the fish et al vanished. Instead, in the lighted area, the deck officer saw only one large circle of greenish light. It resolved into one large eye. It was "attached" to a Giant Squid. The officer walked the length of the ship's deck and back; it lay all along the boat, and its size was "colossal". It was greater than the 175 foot length of the vessel, with tentacles at least 24 inches thick. Details like the suction disks and the parrot-beak were quite clear. After about 15 minutes, wherein it moved only languidly, it suddenly puffed up and shot away. (( now unless one of you folks tell me differently, this is probably my favorite Giant Squid case that I've heard about)). {but tell me if it's bogus}.

#54: Somewhere near the Gulf of Benin, Central Africa [5.31 South // 4.42 West], 1902. Here we are in another phosphorescent sea. The witnesses of the S.S.Fort Salisbury noticed a long dark object making a long luminous trailing wake. Two lights, like Masthead lamps, seemed mounted on the upper edge of its body. All of this sunk below the surface together. Upon coming up to the site of submergence, they could see a "huge monster" underneath the water. It has a scaly back with scales a foot in diameter. Barnacles grew on some of these. Shiny twinkling lights shown here and there on the creature. The length of the creature was 500-600 feet [!!!!!]. The body's width was 30 feet at the widest. They surmised that there must be two areas for fins, due to the disturbances of the water. There was a strong odor. Later, to the Zoologist, the Captain vouched for his second officer and the two crew.

Case#55: South China Sea, early 1900s. A "big snake" followed a ship for three days, keeping pace with it, but never closing in. Finally it just swam away.

#56: Fairway Beacon, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 1934. An elongated animal estimated at greater than 40 feet long, swam with its head raised 8 feet out of the water. Along its body were three humps spaced about 20 feet apart.

#57: La Jolla, CA, 1955. A compact [i.e. not serpentine] monster swam about 50 feet from observers for 25 minutes. It had the head and shoulders reminiscent of a bull gorilla. But it had no discernible face. Observers swore it was no whale nor sea lion. ["Ugly Merman"-DD]

#58: Santa Barbara, CA, 1966. A 15-20 foot long "serpent" moved by underwater camera several times [film clip to the side]. Motion was "spiraling". It had "rudimentary" head but noticeable eyes and mouth. A long thin tail completed the creature. Scientists speculated about jellyfish. ["Marvin the Monster" possible salp chain-DD]

#59: Yakutat, Alaska, 1956. Carcass. Greater than 100 feet long. Fifteen feet wide at broadest. Reddish-brown hair. No blubber on carcass. Head 5 1/2 feet wide. 7-9" diameter eyes placed a foot apart. Ribs 5-6' long. Upper jaw protruded 5 1/2 feet beyond lower. Speculation about a Baird's Beak-nosed Whale.

#60: Whidby Island (Puget Sound), WA, 1958. A sea serpent of modest proportions [only twelve feet long] swam by using "snake-like" motions. Body was one foot in diameter. This thing was said to appear there seasonally in the warmer weather. [Oarfish?-DD]

#61: Queen Charlotte Islands, Hecate Straits, BC, date not stated [and no date on clipping either]. A very long "sea serpent" [but no estimate given for length] appeared for quite some viewing time. (Observer made three sketches; none included). Head was raised thirty feet out of the water. Head was 1 1/2' wide and 2 1/2' long. Body was greenish shiny and of telephone pole diameter. Submerged in a spiraling fashion. [Heuvelmans mentions sighting, gives date]

#62: Isle of Soay, near Skye, Scottish islands, 1959, maybe. This multiple witness sighting created a lot of news there. Witness diagrams are at left, plus a professional drawing. Professional drawing blows it as far as head conformation is concerned, as it should be rounder and more "turtlish".

Head protruded above water, two foot top to bottom and large eyes. Nasal holes easily seeable as well as mouth. Behind head 8-10 feet of body was seeable, rising three feet out of water. Creature was scaly and had row of serrated "fins" running down back. Body was 4-5' broad at waterline. Neck was about 8" in diameter. The head was described as like a tortoise's but as big as a donkey's. The eyes were large and round like a cow's. It made a terrific roaring-whistling sound when it breathed. Desperate scientists speculated about a displaced iguana lizard, even though they aren't nearly as big. There were claims that other seamen have seen this same sort of animal in these waters near the Isle of Mallaig.

#63: Mediterranean Sea, 1877. Relating perhaps to the Soay case, it was brought up that the HM Yacht Osborne had witnessed a strange creature the previous century. This was a long thing with serrated fins along its back [note the drawing below], and when it turned to swim away, appeared to be turtlish with flippers.

#64: near Barnstable harbor, MA, date not given [pre-1971]. Witnesses observed a large bony "grotesque" head rise up out of the water only twenty feet away. Head was covered with barnacles and "horse-like". It spouted water short distances. Its body "snaked" into view: thick, black, clean of fins or any protrusions, and 50-60 feet long. Witness had film as he was out to make film of something else at the time. Writer of story allegedly saw film and vouched for it.

Case#65: Georges Bank, Newfoundland, 1826. This case actually could be a great one "if". The "if" is because there was the claim that there were many witnesses on board this passenger ship, many testimonials were taken, AND a drawing was made. None of that came with the story, unfortunately. All that was said was that a "sea serpent" was seen and that 60' of its length could be observed out of the water [ therefore intimating that the thing was longer].

#66: Machrihanish, Scotland, 1944. Another carcass, and none too impressive. >20' long with enormous eyes. Feet unlike a seal's or anything like a whale. Speculated to have been killed by War maneuvers.
#67: Brockton, MA, 1964. A "sea monster" was seen having a raised head and humps on its back.
#68: Alexandra Bay, Newfoundland, 1860s. A man was sailing to his home, saw a "sea serpent" and got so scared that he turned back.
#69: Eastern coast between NYC and Portland, ME, 1912 or 1913. An animal with a huge eel-like body, raised its head 20' out of water, and turned slowly as if surveying the surroundings. The neck had a diameter similar to a barrel.

#70: Seal Rock, OR, probably early 1940s. Carcass. Eighteen feet long. Eight foot long neck. Small head. Four flippers. Short light-brown hair. [Could have been a seal-DD]

#71: Sunset Beach, north of Vancouver, BC, 1937. Fishermen had very "close encounter" [25' away]. Had a large head shaped like a long-nosed pig, but wider built. Huge body and two large flippers seen. Later in day, others claimed to see [at greater distance] a "sea serpent" with a body 50-60' long and a head like a camel's. Diameter of body said to be "barrel-sized". At other times others claimed to have seen a "sea serpent" about 100' long.

#72: South Pacific [position undisclosed (Actually NW of the Marquesas)], 1852. A whaling vessel [The Monongahela-DD] encountered something that captain and crew did not recognize as being any sort of whale. It was black, serpentine and moved with a snake-like motion. After some debate, they decided to chase the thing as they would a whale, harpooning it and killing it. It was 103' long. with a 6' diameter neck, widening to 8' at "shoulders". The body was about 16' at its broadest. The tail diminished to a point. The head was flat-topped and elongated. Its tongue was tipped with a "heart-shape". It had 94 teeth. Two spout holes, and four webbed paws. The back was black, the sides brown, and the belly yellow. They dismembered the thing as they would a Whale, but decided not to try to bring any of the bulk of it home. [I believe that some accident also occurred which flushed the evidence-ITS]. Oh well, such is Cryptozoology. [The Monongahela was later wrecked with a loss of all hands after the message was sent home by another ship in a parcel of letters. The authenticity of the letters was vouched for by the captain's surviving relatives and the letters together with the accompanying affidavits are now in the archives of the New Bedford Whaling museum. Several important points which needed to be specified!-DD]

#73: New Bedford, MA, 1964. An animal 50' long was seen just 50-100' off starboard. Water was "Flat and calm as a mill pond". The head was shaped alligator-ish, with lumps all along its midline, like camel humps. Head was also huge, about 20' long. The thing had a blow-hole, but was without a discernible neck. Body was dark but with white spotting. Its tail was like a lobster's and it flapped it upon the water. It paralleled the boat for some time and seemed "friendly". [Hey boys, come on in; the water's fine...]. [This one sighted by the Blue Sea was likely a whale but it is usually included together with the next one because both have "Alligator heads"-DD]

#74: New Bedford, MA, 1957. A creature with a very large body [of which 40' could be seen out of the water], was estimated at weighing over 35-40 tons. It had a seal-like shaped body but a long neck which held its head 26' out of the water. The head was "alligator-ish". It sported a mane of bristly hair.[The Noreen report, probably a "Whale-Eater" or the same as the Monongahela creature, and the midline crest is more ordinarily called a fin-DD]

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Mythical Monster Seals of Chile

THE Cuchivilu [Babel Fish Translation]
The Cuchivilu is one being with the upper body in the form of pig. Very robust, with long fangs and bulging eyes, the bottom is a very thick snake. He lives in marshy places, always by the sea, buried in the mud, leaving only its nose into the air to breathe. Man's presence irritates. They say that the female can give birth up to 12 Cuchivilus and teats with which feeds are arranged in his spine. Generally, in the early days of the pups, she gives them their favorite foods, which are exclusively oysters and clams in growth stage. This mythological creature is hated by fishermen, and who know him as the destroyer of fish weirs, chilotes system used for hoisting the fish. On the beach have a fence made of sticks, woven baskets and close together as each other, so just be possible that the sea water to drain or seep. This pen is shaped like a horseshoe, and its opening is located toward the earth, so the pen remains covered by high tide and low tide, are caught quantities of fish and seafood then easily collected in the Chiloe available in baskets. This is an ingenious way to fish, which is also utilized by The Cuchivilu, which appears in the pens destroying it, completely. Snares fish and seafood to your appetite satiated while removing the sand with its snout, like any pig of the inhabitants of the land. It is detected by the grunts and leaves the unmistakable imprint therefore not reused again that poultry considering since then, for fear of scabies in the sand leaving the body of this animal. But, some pens to be repaired again after a while and "cleaned" using a special ceremony called "Chepu", which is removed the spell. http://mitologiadechiloe.blogspot.com/2008/06/el-cuchivilu-plumaaguada-el-cuchivilu.html

If there is such a thing as a Southern Walrus it might also be called by the name of Cuchivilu as being  a tusked "Sea-Pig." There is some confusion in the mythological sea-creatures off of Chile and it is possible that the tusks are also referred to as "Horns"
From ThinkQuest:
THE CUCHIVILU
In many sites of Chiloe's province, a special and easy way of fishing is still used. In the beach a semicircular fence of branches is made open to the land. This fence is called Corral de Pesca. When the tide is high, the fish weir is covered by water, and when the tide is down, the fish that came close to the beach are trapped in the fish weir. From time to time a monster called Cuchivilu appears from the sea. This monster has half a body of pig and half snake. This animal comes into the fishing fish weir to destroy it, and eats the fish inside it. With this visit the site will become cursed, and a fish will never become trapped again inside of it. But there is a way to detroy the witchcraft : a magical ceremony called Cheputo.

--The actual creature the Cuchivilu is based on is the Elephant seal. the number of the young. the number of the teats and their arrangement are spurious inventions. The part about their destroying fish weirs and eating the fish is apparently true. The creatures are depicted as flipperless "Snakes" and then again with flippers, as on the stamp. The part about the flippers is true. A male Southern elephant seal is shown to scale with a human below.
Camahueto
It has the form of a short leaden calf fur and bright with a horn in the middle of the forehead. He lives in rivers and swampy lagoons into adulthood that achieves at twenty-five years, then migrate to the sea destroying everything in its path.
When he discovers his presence hire a witch to a kelp rope so Lacee and remove the horn to make it a gentle lamb.
With the grindings of the male Camahueto horn prepare potions to cure various diseases, as well as restore the vigor and sexual potency in men.

The Camahueto
http://mitologiadechiloe.blogspot.com/2008/06/el-camahueto.html



The Camahueto  (PEN, 0.55 X0, 75 ctms.)
The Camahueto is known as The Unicorn prodigious. This fabulous animal has a shiny coat, short and leaden looks like a vigorous calf and its most precious ornament is a golden horn that grows on the forehead. This mythical creature is something special. His birth took place in the depths of the earth and in some cases, on top of a hill near the sea. Then it is found in the lakes or rivers muddy and later, when it reaches its development, on the twentieth or twenty-five years, migrates its way with its powerful horn which will make a huge trench in the earth in its journey towards the sea, where dwell forever. Destroy everything in its path causing great damage to property and sembradíos.Hace appeared on full moon nights. Emerging from a river or a lake, its coveted horn shine like gold in the light of the moon. Seek him with ambition, because this animal is credited with healing powers, witches being macho and the only ones who can give chase. To do so use a rope made of seaweed and they will succeed only on land, but never at sea. To capture and be holders of the horn, warlocks and Machis enjoy unlimited power to use the powers of the scrape of it as beneficial or malevolent. Camahueto is said, the sea is very powerful and large vessels rammed and makes them disappear into the depths with all hands. At cortársele his horn with a machete (in the hands of a gun or warlock), the mythical animal is transformed into a meek and docile calf and stop damage to farmers. Who encounter a Camahueto and is slightly injured by his horn, will, insurance, health and much luck for life.
--The Camahueto is the mythical land-unicorn which develops into the sea-unicorn or Southern Narwhal. Incredibly, the latter one may actually be the real animal, and its long twisted tusk "Horn" is magical and used in the same was as the narwhal of the North.Karl Shuker suggests that the
Southern Narwhal is a survival of the tusked whale Odobenocetops. Eberhart says that the name ordinarily means the Sea-Elephant, which is unusual because it seems the elephant seal is a different mythological creature (see above) There is also an intermediate form of the creature, and since the Camahueto is known as the Sea-Calf, there is also the corresponding name Sea-Cow (Which might be the "Horned or tusked" sea creature all over again according to Austin Whittall)




The Millalobo present a shiny coat of gold, hence its name, and the ability to change the shape of your face. This mythological creature is said can not speak and only communicates through a kind of bleating like sea lion, but even so, the meaning of their bleating is easily comprehensible to humans. Legend has it that the view Caicai, found a being to his liking, and how after his battle with tenten wanted to delegate power to someone, Millalobo was chosen for that office The Millalobo lives in the sea floor, with his wife huechula and the three children of both the Pincoya,The Pincoy, and the siren chilota[All of them Merfolk]Who assist with the task of managing the seas.
Product of the great work that is mastering the seas, the Millalobo is subordinate to a number of mythological sea creatures to do different jobs, which range from plant and care for the development of shellfish and fish, to manage the marine climate, in addition to guiding and care for the dead that produces the sea
Sea creatures are evil, they should also pay their respects.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005968F/acuaticos/eng/cuchi2.htm
THE MILLALOBO
The Millalobo lives in the deepest sea. He became pregnat under the command and protection of the waters spirit Coicoi-vilu, by a pretty woman and a seal. That happens when the waters invaded the Chiloé lands.

He's like a big seal, with a mix of man and fish face. The superior half body looks like man, and the rest like seal. His skin is covered by short and shining gold pelt, this is the reason of his name Millalobo or Golden Seal.

He lives with la Hunchula. She's the daugther of an old machi called la Huenchur, and when the weather conditions are good, Millalobo and Huenchula go out the sea to lonely beaches looking for the pleasure of sun rays.

Millalobo, was nominated by Coicoi-Vilu, like master of seven seas and he is the supreme boss of every creature in the waters. His power is like Neptune power from greek mitology.

Like sea master, he gives some missions to several water creatures, they obey his commands like seeding fish and seafood, watching the growing and multiplication of sea creatures, and controlling the tide and storms. He commands abo the actions of malefics creatures like la Vaca Marina [The Sea Cow], el Cuero, el Cuchivilu and el Piuchén.

With Huenchula Millalobo hase tree sons : la Pincoya, la Sirena y el Pincoy. They like good sons obey Millalobo and make important missions in the wide domain of their mighty father.
--The Millalobo appears to be simply the mythologized version of the ordinary sea-lion. Interestingly it is also supposed to be associated with the oceanic Merfolk under several different names, which are listed as its offspring
El Pincoy, the Chilean Selkie (were-seal)
Below, his sister and mate, La Pincoya, the Chilean Mermaid (Delacruz on Deviant Art)


Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Amended Primate Family Tree

This is my revised version, combining my researches with Tyer Stone's additions.

The original Family Tree was found on a photosearch and attributed to: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/our-origins2/ch/09/answers.aspx

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Marine Monkeys and Merfolk


Internet News Item of 2009:
http://www.livescience.com/5642-mermaid-sightings-claimed-israel.html

Locals and tourists in the Israeli town of Kiryat Yam have been flocking to the coast in hopes of glimpsing a creature that most people believe only exist in fairy tales.

An alleged mermaid, said to resemble a cross between a fish and a young girl, only appears at sunset. It performs a few tricks for onlookers before disappearing for the night.

One of the first people to see the mermaid, Shlomo Cohen, 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."

The sightings apparently began several months ago.

$1 million reward

The town's tourism board is of course delighted with their newfound fame and local mystery fauna. Taking a cue from the town of Inverness, Scotland (on the shore of Loch Ness), the Kiryat Yam government has offered a $1 million reward for the first person to photograph the creature. Town spokesman Natti Zilberman thinks the reward money is well-spent. "I believe if there really is a mermaid then so many people will come to Kiryat Yam, a lot more money will be made than $1 million.”

Of course, if the mermaid does not exist -- perhaps it is a hoax, an optical illusion, or a simple misperception of a known animal -- then the town's reward money will remain safe and unclaimed, while the economy benefits from the influx of tourists vying to get a photo that will leave them set for life.

It's not clear what people are seeing, though the power of suggestion and imagination can be strong. Identifying animals in water is inherently problematic, since eyewitnesses by definition are only seeing a small part of the creature. When you add in the factor of low light at sunset and the distances involved, positively identifying even a known creature can be very difficult -- to say nothing of a mythological one!

Mermaids have long held fascination for seafaring peoples. There are a few[several=six] dozen significant historical claims of actual mermaid sightings. Most of them are clearly myths and legends, such as "true" stories about lovely young women who married sailors but were later discovered to be shape-shifting mermaids (such as in the film "Splash").

Other reports date back centuries, and offer no proof or evidence other than a curious story. For example, a Capt. Richard Whitbourne claimed he saw a mermaid in Newfoundland's St. James harbor in 1610. Another story, from 1830 Scotland, claimed that a young boy killed a mermaid by throwing rocks at it; the creature looked like a child of about 3 or 4, but had a salmon's tail instead of legs. The villagers supposedly had it a funeral and buried it in a small coffin.

P.T. Barnum's mermaid

Hoaxers have worked to satisfy the public's appetite for mermaids; the fact that none have ever actually been found is only a minor inconvenience.

The great showman P.T. Barnum introduced a mermaid to astounded crowd in the 1840s: his infamous "FeeJee Mermaid", actually a taxidermy fake. The head and torso of a small monkey was grafted onto the body and tail of a fish. It was bizarre and strange - --certainly nothing anyone had seen before — but a far cry from the banners and posters suggesting a beautiful, half-naked woman.

Other mermaid fakes appeared throughout the centuries. Some were manatees that had been dressed up to resemble a human form and exhibited for profit.

Whether the Israeli mermaid sighting is genuine, a hoax, or an innocent mistake exploited for tourism, the reality of finding a real mermaid might be different than people imagine, as shown by a song from the Newfoundland band Great Big Sea, which sings folk-rock versions of traditional sea shanties. One of their most popular songs, titled "The Mermaid," tells of a lonely sailor who courts a mermaid:

"I love the girl with all me heart / But I only like the upper part / I do not like the tail!"




From The Cryptid Zoo http://www.newanimal.org/merfolk.htm

Mermaids and Mermen in Cryptozoology: Modern Sightings and Reports

Why would cryptozoologists pay any attention to something as weird as mermaids and mermen? To answer that question, we first need to look at the history of these legends and sightings. Mermaids and their male counterparts, mermen (both sexes are collectively referred to as "merfolk" or sometimes "merbeings"), are found in legends and fairy tales along every coastline in the world, from Scotland to Hawaii, from Australia to Africa. Along with being geographically widespread, these tales are very old, dating back to the earliest written records from ancient Sumeria. As you might expect, merfolk are not a popular topic in cryptozoology. Since they sound so unreal, anyone working in cryptozoology who pays much attention to them can end up very embarrassed.
However, merfolk are the object of a surprising number of first-hand sightings and modern reports. The sheer volume of these reports can often force cryptozoologists to pay attention. Therefore, mermaids and mermen are more than just a preoccupation for fringe cryptozoologists. Even though merfolk are biologically absurd, some mainstream cryptozoologists have devoted considerable attention to trying to unravel this mystery.

The older fairy tales and today's sightings differ in a number of important ways. Although fairy tales like to describe mermaids that are blond, talkative and entirely human from the waist up, tales from first-hand witnesses generally describe mermaids who don't talk at all, who have green or black hair, and who have some fishy[or animal] characteristics on their top halves.

There are several different scientific theories that have been put forth to explain mermaids and mermen. One idea is that merfolk are animals. They might be some variety of undiscovered fish that has a top half that simply looks human, or they might be a variety of primate that evolved to a half-aquatic lifestyle. Unfortunately, not much evidence has come forth to support either idea. If merfolk exist and are animals, they must be incredibly rare, for science has never managed to get a dead body despite the fact that merfolk are supposed to love hanging about near shore, where capture should be easy and bodies would probably wash onto the beach.

The story goes that Merfolk were regularly washed up on shoree after storms before 1900, but such occasions have become much rarer after that. The reason for decrease in sightings since 1900 shall be discussed below. Also, claims of dead and stranded Merfolk corpses are still coming in, but the cases that make headlines ordinarily turn out to be the results of highly skilled taxidermists practicing their art.



This is a paste-up of a map of the sightings from Sea Enchantress plotted, plus a few more recent ones. I have had a few reports turned in to me independantly as taking place off the West Coast of the USA, and which are usually burly males of the "Merman" category and the rare females which are sometimes said to have a rather "Animalistic" appearance.

Here are some basic facts derived from the "Mermaid" entry in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid

A mermaid (from the Middle English mere in the obsolete sense 'sea' + maid(en)) is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. The male version of a mermaid is called a merman; the gender-neutral plural is merfolk. Various cultures throughout the world have similar figures. Much like Sirens, mermaids in stories would sometimes sing to sailors and enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing them to walk off the deck or cause shipwrecks. Other stories would have them squeeze the life out of drowning men while trying to rescue them. They are also said to take them down to their underwater kingdoms. The Sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as mermaid-like; in fact, some languages use the same word for both creatures. Other related types of mythical or legendary creature are water fairies (e.g. various water nymphs) and selkies, animals that can change from one into another type of creature. (Mermaids are sometimes said to be half-seaserpent or half-eel, for example, and sometimes to be able to transform from Mermaid to Giant-eel form. Morag is an example)

Mermen are mythical male legendary creatures who are human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, whose female counterparts were the more commonly known mermaids. In Greek mythology, mermen were often illustrated to have a long snaky tail seaweed-like hair, a beard, and a trident. The actions and behavior of mermen can vary wildly depending on the source and time period of the stories. They have been said to sink ships by summoning great storms, but also said to be wise teachers, according to earlier mythology. A merman, like a mermaid, attracts humans with singing and tones.
Merfolk have, for centuries and independantly the whole woprld over, been described as having the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. Their skin color varies from caucasian all the way to tanned brown and shades of green: and their hair is described as being dark colored, reddish-brown and sometimes seaweed-like.Presumably the green colour as reported actually comes from seaweed when the Merfolk are covered with it.

Theoretical identification
Legends of these half-human, half-fish humanoids have circulated for millennia, even as far back as 4,000 years ago. It has been widely suggested or implied that manatees or dugongs could be behind the myth of the mermaid. It is said that these large aquatic mammals are notable for the way in which they carry their young, cradled in their arms much as a human would carry a baby. It is possible that sailors seeing these unfamiliar beasts for the first time, would assume that they had in fact stumbled across some sort of humanoid species, and consequently spread their accounts of the sightings through their homelands on their return from voyages. It has even been posited that the traditional image of a mermaid with long flowing hair could be attributed to manatees breaking the ocean surface underneath patches of seaweed, and giving the unfamiliar observer the impression of having long hair. (cited from Wikipedia)

For well over two centuries now, the standard scientific explanation for a mermaid sighting throughout the world in numerous books and articles has been that the manatee has been seen and mistaken for a mermaid. To this I say, there are few better examples of explanations that explain no part of the sightings they are intended to explain. Manatees have a physical appearance far more in common with a walrus than with a Mermaid. Anyone who could possibly mistake one of these blubbery, whiskered creatures for a Mermaid was either very drunk at the time or else a very bad liar, possibly both. And this explanation doesn't come anywhere close to explaining the stories or sightings of a Mermaid climbing atop of rocks near the shore or singing - two of the most common things Mermaids are consistently reported to be doing. And several of the aspects of the sightings that manatees are supposed to account for also turn out to be false allegations. It turns out, for example, that sirenians habitually nurse their young underwater with the bodies in a horizontal orientation: they do not sit up vertically in the water with the mother cradling the baby in its foreflipper. {This statement is particularly and specifically noted in Walker's Mammals of the World]

The second major issue with this explanation is basic geography. While Dugongs are found in shallow waters along the coast of the Indian Ocean, and Manatees are generally found through the Gulf of Mexico and the Congo and Amazon Rivers, neither of these species are found in the waters of the North Atlantic, where the majority of Mermaid sightings come in from.

To quote from Heuvelmans' 1986 Checklist of Unknown Animals published in CRYPTOZOOLOGY Volume 5, under "Marine Forms"
"Merfolk-like animals not necessarily related to the present dugong and manatees-their classical scientific explanation: "Mermaids" and "Mermen" reported from seas where no recent speciesare known to have lived in historical times. In the most complete work devoted to the mermaid legend (Sea Enchantress, Benwell and Waugh 1961)70 sightings of such creatures are listed. Out of these, 52 (almost three-quarters)have allegedly occurred far from the areas where the three species of [Sirenians]...are known to...have been confined...In these reagions the existance of seals, sea lions or walruses cannot, as suggested, make up for the lack of Sirenians because [To put it more bluntly than Heuvelmans does, because seals do not show breasts on the females in the anatomical position where human females have breasts. There, I've said it and I'm glad!]...Only a still-unrecorded species of sirenian, or possibly...an unknown species of Primate adapted to sea-life, could explain the abundance and persistence of Merfolk reports in certain seas up to modern times."


The Amboine Mermaid, a specimen said to have been held in captivity in a tank and as such, counts as n early scientific specimen for the species. This has not been adequately explained as any other sort of creature since nothing else matches the description. The island of Ambon is in Eastern Indonesia to the East of Borneo.




















Ningyos from Japan and Nagas (the half-human version) of India and Indonesia are commonly counted as the local versions of their Merfolk.





















As Heuvelmans notes, Merfolk have been sighted through the years numerous times by credible and sober observers who are familiar with the sea and it's inhabitants. A sample of some reports thoughout history follows:

On October 29, 1811, John McIssacs gave sworn testimony that he had seen a Mermaid while walking along the beach near Campbeltown, Scotland. He was able to give a detailed description of the mermaid, who had red hair, white skin above the waist and reddish-gray below the waist, and who was sitting on a rock above the water. Two separate clergymen testified that McIssac was considered to be a sober steady man and should be considered a "reliable witness." Three days after McIssac's testimony the Sheriff-Sub at the time also took testimony from another witness, Katherine Loynachan, who had also seen an identically described Mermaid sunning on the rocks in the same area just a week before.

In 1809, William Munro, a school teacher from Thurso in Caithness, reported seeing a Mermaid on a rock near Sandside Head. In 1814, two fisherman off Port Gordon encountered two, merman and a mermaid. In 1949, fisherman off the coast of Cape More reported seeing merfolk several times. Mermaids were being reported off of Vancouver in 1949 and off the coast of Washington state in the 1970s-and in California at about the same time in both instances. Some of the "Mermen" in these areas are said to be large and burly and to resemble swimming gorillas: Heuvelmans even notes this in passing in the case of "Bobo" but does not recognise the category.

By all accounts, merfolk live in the sea with no need to return to land, but they do seem to be able to spend short periods out of the water, on the rocks near shore. The great majority of these accounts in modern sightings show the merfolk do not have a standard fishtail, they have a tail with fins extending from side to side, like those of dolphins, whales and other marine mammals.
One theme often attached to merfolk is the connection between them and storms. Many accounts credit them with either causing or predicting storms by singing. Through out the Middle Ages it seems there was quite the heated debate among scholars about whether Mermaids actually had the power to raise storms or whether their singing before a storm was simply a result of their keen perception of the weather. Of course, the debate was never really settled, but common belief of mariners was that if any member of the crew heard a mermaid singing, it was time to get in to port as soon as possible. If the Merfolk are animals and their vocalizations (or calls) are what we are calling "singing" they could very well be calling to each other when signs of rough weather come up. being IN the water, there is little doubt they could feel disturbances in the waves out to see before even the seamen would notice.

Documented sightings continued through the Renaissance up to the early parts of the Modern day. The North Atlantic in particular was the location for a continuing belief in the existance of Mermaids and Mermen (Particularly in areas like Portugal, the Azores and Canary Islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles and the East Coast islands off the Southern USA), as well as the scene of great numbers of reports. Dispite the increasing ridicule heaped on those who claimed to see Merfolk, sightings continued without break into the nineteenth century. And throughout the 19th and 20th centuries it was Scotland and the Orkney Islands in particular where many of these highly credible accounts come from.

So the question may come to mind of "Why did these sightings become so few inferequent after the end of the 19th century if there were so many at that time?" And in fact the answer if fairly simple. During the end of the 19th century and early 20th there were a great many advances in technology. One of the greatest impacts on marine life was the propeller driven ship. As the number of propeller driven ships grew, the number of Merfolk sightings dropped off drastically. With a small amount of consideration, this makes perfect sense, seeing how most other marine creatures do their best to avoid the noise and the dangerously sharp, fast spinning propellers of modern vessels.

It also goes without saying that there are many misidentifications and hoaxes when dealing with Merfolk. While it's unfortunate that people would choose to seek publicity through lies, we all know it happens. Cases such as the "feejee" mermaid have become more famous than the more credible cases. Not ALL of these misidentifications are hoaxes however. There are two other basic sources of mis-identification. These are Seals and Other aquatic Mammals and then again regular human swimmers. While it's hard to credit the great many claims of Mermaids from Seamen and seaside inhabitants as being seals or other normal aquatic animals, especially when they state that they know what these animals look and sound like. That being said, there are supposed to be caes where it HAS happened, especially when a witness is not familiar with seals or similar creatures, and when these sightings happen after dark. And obviously the most likely source of misidentifications is the liklihood that people seeing actual human beings swimming in coastal waters.

For interested cryptozoologists there is little question of the reality of Merfolk as living creatures. But the general scientific belief is that these creatures are fictional and ALL such sightings must be either hoaxes or misidentification of known creatures. For the general population they are a beautiful part of children's stories and movies, but they are far from a reality, but for many of us, the hope and belief is that they do actually exist, and can be proven to exist.
And for at least one Israeli, town it's now become a matter of money! A number of sightings of alleged Mermaids in Israel have forced at least one town's council to get involved, offering a $1,000,000 reward to anyone who can prove that the mythical merfolk do exist in its waters


































Now as to the theory about what the Merfolk could be, I happened to have had access to a copy of Sea Enchantress in the 1970s (it has since then become virtually impossible to finsd a copy) and by the time I had joined the SITU I had invented a scenario to account for the reports as a type of marine primate. This theory was the subject of a couple of submissions to the SITU including during the period when the Nrew Britain Ri was in the news (Some aspects of the Ri sightings, although discounted as being dugongs, still sound more like descriptions of Merfolk and were never actually disproven) My theory was that they were manlike primates which developed swimming tails parallel to the cetaceans. Hence their ancestors had long tails and were monkeys and not apes. My model compared the ancestors to macaque monkeys and estimated that they could possibly have evolved a dolphin-like tail during the Miocene.






Macaque mokeys can be either short-tailed or long-tailed and several of them have manes of differentiated head-hair, moustaches and beards. Several kinds of macaques find food in salt water lagoons and beaches, going out to find crabs and stranded sea creatures, and many are good swimmers. This includes the Japanese macaques and the specifically-named Crab-eater macaques. If a type of Miocene monkey of the same general type as the macaques took to a more actively-swimming marine life during the Miocene, it could evolve two ways into having a more dolphin-shaped finned tail for swimming, and a more human-likehead, arms and hands as a refinement on the monkey original: the head, arms and hands would already generally resemble a human being's, and a macaque ancestry would give them the long head-hair (and beard on the male) which coincidentally increased the resemblance to a human as far as human witnesses were concerned. At the same time, traditions would still insist (such as in the case of the Ningyo)that the inside of the mouth and the teeth looked like a monkey's, and that the males had notably longer tusks. The males were usually stated to be somewhat larger and more "Bestial" than ordinary humans, but the degree of sexual dimorphism tended to make the females seem to be more of the usual female human appearance.


This theory was independant of the Aquatic Ape theory which had a brief popularity a little after this theory was formulated-it revolved around a kind of monkey, not an ape- but the two theories were parallel and several of the same biological observations and arguments would apply in either case. This would mean it was plausible that the creatures could metabolize saltwater and get rid of the excess salt by shedding salty tears, in turn a more humanlike trait, as described in the Aquatic Ape theory. The artwork depicting the "Aquatic Ape" here was created by Robert Dumont on Deviant Art.




The hypothetical primate would tend to develop a more rounded head, larger eyes, and also tend to lose its hinder legs, as demonstrated in this mock-up I made by way of demonstration.



The end result would be overall like "Empyrian's" reconstruction of a Mermaid's skeleton on Deviant Art: I am showing their version rather than mine for the sake of a second opinion. The shape of the head and its placement on the neck would probably be not quite so much human-like, and that is the area which would be most onscured by the thick mane of hair on the head. This model does show rear limbs replaced with flippers using a cetavcean's flipper skeleton as a model: I am pretty mich convinced that the rear flippers are there and variously depicted on the different representations but they function as claspers during mating (That would be the reason whu some of the depictions tend to show sharklike number of and positioning of tail fins) I also include my reconstruction based on the reports from Sea Enchantress so long ago. The hands would have webbed fingers and some reports say the fingers are extra-long and have extra joints. I hypothesized that objects the Mermaids were handling that looked like combs and compacts or mirrors could be fish skeletons (or partially-eaten fish they were still weorking on) and clamshells, or abalone or other shellfish.

I also guessed that the creatures had an overall furry pely which had to be oiled and rubbed like a sea otter's and that was the reason that the Merfolk always seemed to be rubbing and grooming themselves.

My general sense is that Dinsdale made the first general notice of the reports in Sea Enchantress in The Leviathans and then made a plea to take the reports seriously: Heuvelmans had an inclination to take the reports seriously but his inclusion of the category on his vhecklist I think is because Dinsdale had insisted. And I must also hasten to emphasize that my reconstruction and all the attendant speculation is completely independant of Loren Coleman's similar "Merbeing" classification in his Field Guide to Bigfoot (etc)--and was originally made decades before, and had remained unpublished in the SITU's files for decades as well.

And you are at complete liberty to disbelieve any or all of this: I make this theory only as a suggestion as to how the creatures in the Merfolk reports might have come about and what they might be. I do know that skepticism against any such theory runs rather high. But ever since I made this theory I have also gotten more reports privately, and to me they tend to reinforce the theory.

Best Wishes, Dale D.
PS and for the record, my suggested Genus name for the Merfolk as of 1973 was "Naiadus" and the family "Naiadae" as allied to the Cercopithecoidea. I likewise state this as a suggestion only.