Mythological Creature Challenge #3: Mermaids?

This the third in a series of posts wherein we challenged ourselves to write a piece that attempts to convince the reader of the existence of some mythological creature.

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The Case for Mermaids

By Nicholas Sokol

For thousands of years, countless civilizations have told stories of the half-fish half-human creatures we now call mermaids. While such reports have today been relegated to the pages of children's’ books, it remains a fact that mermaid sightings still do trickle in from time to time. Whether you believe that mermaids still exist, or that they are now extinct, or that they have always been an invention of the human mind, it is clear that the legacy of mermaids is deeply entrenched in human history.

Given the pervasive nature of mermaids in culture, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising to learn that humans share up to 85% of their DNA with fish. Maybe it's not so implausible that a creature bearing only a 50% resemblance to a fish could have existed, probably even sharing a common ancestor with us.

Many have called attention to what is perceived as an absence of mermaids from the the fossil record. However, experts estimate of the over 5 billion species that have ever existed, 99% are now extinct, leaving only a fraction of its footprint in the fossil record. This fact represents a massive blind spot in the archeological record which leaves plenty of room for mermaids to have existed. However, it has been noted that there are countless fossils that contain only the bottom half of a fish, and there are certainly a few examples of humanoid remains wherein the bottom half was never found. Some of these fossils may have even been found in close proximity to one another, leaving the door open for mer-interpretations. However, some researchers have questioned if these half-human fossils may instead be evidence for centaurs.

In addition to the compelling case provided by the fossil record, there are a few related statistical facts that add weight to the case for mermaids. Mermaids have historically been known to use their often attractive bodies to lure sailors to their deaths in thousands of shipwrecks that have taken place across the centuries. However, there are fewer shipwrecks per capita today than in any other time in the history of ships, noting a curve that closely mirrors the dropoff in mermaid sightings in recent centuries. While there may be other factors at play in the decrease in maritime accidents, decreasing mermaid activity is an often overlooked factor. It may also be that the mermaid sightings that still do happen are now less likely to lure sailors to their deaths, due to the prevalence of smartphones and easy access to porn for sailors.

In doing research for this story, we interviewed one of the world’s leading experts in mermaidology, ex-NOAA scientist Pat Richardson. When asked about the skepticism that is still prevalent despite his efforts to set the record straight he said, “people will just come up to you outright and tell you that there's no such thing as a mermaid, and they just have no evidence for that. They have no evidence at all!”