# Mermaids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391 "2013-07-13T05:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/1 "2013-07-13T05:23:53Z")
I think I know how this is going to go, but… A friend of mine, at dinner, was telling me all about mermaids, from some tv show. Discovery Channel? History Channel? Science Channel? Anyway… Photographic evidence, film taken of animals on beaches, film taken by deep-water submersibles, photos of their hands, photos of their faces. Some kind of humanoid/delphinoid pelagic species. Webbed fingers. Ridge on top of head. A university in South Africa had samples, but U.S. forces raided them and stole them… That was the point where I stopped being interested. U.S. forces raiding a South African university to steal mermaid parts? I don’t believe it… It apparently ties in with the undersea “Bloop.” (?) Oh, yeah, and the film shows one of them using a spear. They’re intelligent, tool-using, language-using creatures… What’s the Straight Dope? Is this the load of elbow shavings it sounds like? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/2 "2013-07-13T05:26:08Z")
Discovery ran a disclaimer several times that it was a speculative documentary. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/3 "2013-07-13T05:35:02Z")
Recently updated [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/photos/supernatural/mermaids.asp) article. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/4 "2013-07-13T06:37:57Z")
I figured it was something like that… My friend obviously missed the disclaimer, and thought it was a real documentary. Discovery Channel ought to be damned ashamed of themselves. Or, y’know, proud of how clever they are. A hoax is a kind of art form. Thanks for the info! ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/5 "2013-07-13T07:22:19Z")
Mermaids exist though. I live around 1 kilometer from the favorite hang out of one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/6 "2013-07-13T08:48:18Z")
Regarding the Bloop, recent consensus has it that it was an [icequake](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-11/29/bloop-mystery-not-solved-sort-of). ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/7 "2013-07-13T08:52:34Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/8 "2013-07-13T09:25:09Z")
Yeah, but ancient aliens were totally here. No question about that! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/9 "2013-07-13T20:19:47Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Mermaids exist though. I live around 1 kilometer from the favorite hang out of one of them. Um… Okay… Go ahead, drop the other shoe! > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, but ancient aliens were totally here. No question about that! Well, sure! Skepticism is well and good, so long as we aren’t stodgy about it! What other explanation can there be for the Tycho Magnetic Anomaly? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/10 "2013-07-13T21:59:06Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I figured it was something like that… My friend obviously missed the disclaimer, and thought it was a real documentary. > > Discovery Channel ought to be damned ashamed of themselves. > > Or, y’know, proud of how clever they are. A hoax is a kind of art form. > > Thanks for the info! It was easy to miss the declaimer. Madame Pepperwinkle and I watched it, knew to look for the disclaimer, but still missed it. The biggest giveaway was how good-looking ALL the scientists were. Oh, and it was on Animal Planet, not Discovery. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/11 "2013-07-13T22:12:48Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Um… Okay… Go ahead, drop the other shoe! What’s that supposed to mean? What shoe? Mermaids, for obvious reasons don’t have shoes. Anyway: [The Little Mermaid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(statue)) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/12 "2013-07-13T23:40:39Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > It was easy to miss the declaimer. Madame Pepperwinkle and I watched it, knew to look for the disclaimer, but still missed it. The biggest giveaway was how good-looking ALL the scientists were. Oh, and it was on Animal Planet, not Discovery. Oops! Now I’m embarrassed, having just written a letter to Discovery. :smack: > [@Rune](#): > > What’s that supposed to mean? What shoe? Mermaids, for obvious reasons don’t have shoes. Anyway: [The Little Mermaid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(statue)) American idom, “Wait for the other shoe to drop.” It means to be in a state of anticipation, waiting for the completion of a sequence that has begun. It comes from hearing the sound of the upstairs neighbor taking off his shoes. You hear one loud “Thunk” and sit there, waiting…waiting…until, “Thunk,” the other shoe drops. Silly Yank figure of speech. And… (you probably already knew that…) Ah! The Little Mermaid Statue! Yes, definitely! However, even stronger evidence: [first-person testimony, with photos!](http://randomneatstuff.blogspot.com/2011/03/diary-of-disneyland-mermaid.html) The mermaid tells her own story! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/13 "2013-07-13T23:52:19Z")
Animal Planet is part of the Discovery Channel. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/14 "2013-07-14T00:27:53Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > It was easy to miss the declaimer. Madame Pepperwinkle and I watched it, knew to look for the disclaimer, but still missed it. The biggest giveaway was how good-looking ALL the scientists were. Oh, and it was on Animal Planet, not Discovery. It’s not uncommon for these schlock shows to be aired on multiple “science” channels. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/15 "2013-07-14T00:58:29Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Animal Planet is part of the Discovery Channel. Oh… (Now, do I feel more stupid, or less stupid?) (Anyway, I’m not the one who saw the show…but I am the dolt who writes letters of complaints to networks about shows he hasn’t seen… Sigh…) ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/16 "2013-07-14T03:08:40Z")
It could be a valid, anthropological documentary about the myths and legends of mermaids, and how the myths have evolved in part by historical relics and hoaxes. Something similar to The Natural History of the Unicorn, a nonfiction book that tells about various myths and legends of unicorns, and brings in real-life creatures like narwhals to explore how the myths came about. Sounds like a cool idea for a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/17 "2013-07-14T03:40:42Z")
That kind of sociological, historical, and literary/artistic survey could have been excellent. There’s certainly no shortage of art to use, and numerous movies to show clips from. I’d enjoy such a show. (They might have problems with depictions of bare-breasted mermaids… Sigh…) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/18 "2013-07-14T17:53:36Z")
[Zoolander] Mer_man_! [/Zoolander] ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/19 "2013-07-14T22:15:23Z")
Well, yeah… But did Odysseus meet male Sirens? Were the gay members of Columbus’ crew tempted by male merpeople? Did Hans Christian Andersen write about a little merboy? Did Disneyland have mermen in the lagoon? Mermaids, in contrast to many extant cryptids, are generalized from the female. (No one has, so far, claimed to see a Bigfoot or Chupacabra with breasts!) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391/20 "2013-07-14T22:19:24Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Mermaids exist though. I live around 1 kilometer from the favorite hang out of one of them. Does she give good head? (Anything else would be out of the question . . .) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mermaids/663391.md?page=2)