Arguments Against Mermaids

Hundreds of years ago the inhabitants of small coastal towns talked of mermaid encounters. All the way back in the 1600’s a mermaid was said to have entered Holland through a dike and she was injured while traveling. She was nursed back to health at a nearby lake, and she eventually learned to speak Dutch, did chores, and even converted to Catholicism. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration there are even cave paintings of mermaids that were painted during the late Paleolithic Era, 30,000 years ago. There are numerous stories of mermaids that originate in countries that were never in contact before the stories emerged. Although there are some theories trying to disprove mermaids, there is no solid evidence against
Scientists and researchers only proposed theories against the existence of mermaids, but they have yet to find any factual evidence that disproves them. In the 1800’s there were some stories that were, supposedly, made up about mermaids, but there is no way to know if they are true. Also, for there to be fake mermaid stories there had to be real mermaid stories to copy and retell. Some researchers believe sightings of ocean animals have been mistaken for mermaid sightings, but it would be fairly difficult to confuse a 900-1200 pound manatee with a small creature the size of an average human. Although there are some theories against the existence of mermaids, they are not very reliable theories and have been unable to disprove mermaid
Incredible Mysteries and Legends of the Sea, a story by Edward Snow, talks of a Sea Captain and his encounter with a mermaid: “Captain John Smith saw a mermaid swimming about with all possible grace.” Then he begins describing her as having large eyes, long ears, and long green hair. He even explained that he was quite taken with the lovely mermaid, but he was disappointed when he saw she had a tail. In C.J.S. Thompson’s book The Mystery and Lore of Monsters C.J.S. Thompson noted “Traditions concerning creatures that are half-human and half-fish in form have existed for thousands of years, and the Babylonian deity Era or Oannes, the Fish-god, is represented on seals and in sculpture, as being in this shape for over 2,000 years B.C. He is usually depicted as having a bearded head with a crown and a body like a man, but from the waist downwards, he has the shape of a fish covered with scales and a tail.” So stories of mermaids have been popping up for centuries. Homer’s Odyssey, which was written around 800 B.C., narrates the story of Ulysses and how he was tormented by breathtaking siren song as they sang and tried to lure him to his ultimate demise. Unlike the sirens in the Odyssey, there are other legends that originated in Scotland and Wales that talk about how mermaids became friends with humans, and in some cases, married them. Throughout literary history there have been countless mentions