Are mermaids real?

Answer 1

I have to think they are.

Who wants to believe that a horny, drunken sailor mistook a sea cow for a mermaid?

Answer 2

No.

Where and when mermaid stories got started is shrouded in mystery. They reach back into antiquity and are found in the folklore of almost every country. However, researchers have compared details of the legends with known habits of marine creatures and have concluded that mermaids may be a distortion of encounters between men and a real animal. It is accepted that mermaid sagas are based on superstitious descriptions of the large, jovial mammal, the sea cow.

Indeed, the sea cow does have one human characteristic that qualifies it of sorts as a living mermaid of the sea. Females suckle offspring above water by cradling the young in their forelimbs at breasts located on the chest. Imagine the impression some sailors got seeing from a distance nursing sea cows bobbing vertically in the water holding a young calf to the breast. In their mind, it had to be a mermaid.

Sea cows (manatees) hardly look like humans. Their bodies are spindle shaped, tapering from small heads to large horizontal flippers. They have thick, grayish skin and square bristly snouts. They may grow seven feet (2.1 m) to 15 feet (4.6 m) in length and weigh as much as 1,500 pounds (680 kg).

Not exactly the profile of a beautiful damsel, is it? However, all the romantic puffery attached to sea cows has led scientists to preserve a bit of the mermaid past by naming the animal order Sirenia. This reflects Grecian mythology of the half-woman, half-bird Sirens that enticed sailors to their death by songs.

True, manatees may not fit the image of legendary mermaid beauties envisioned by ancient mariners or artists. But these uniquely designed creatures do fit a role of bringing delight to humans who are fortunate enough to see these living “mermaids” of the sea.

Answer 3

No. It's thought that sailors saw fish or manatees and mistook them for half human.

Answer 4

I think they existed at one time along with Dragons and Unicorns along with other creatures... If they didn't exist why would there be stories about them...

Answer 5

There have been stories about mermaid for thousands of years.. And what those fishermen describe is nothing like those things that they call sea cows..... Yes they are real enough. And there is a reason enough why they are kept-ed secret............................................................................................

Answer 6

i would have to say yes, and just becuase they dont show them selves now doesnt mean then didnt then.

Answer 7

Yeah, that's why the question is under 'Mythology and Folklore'.

Answer 8

Who knows, i guess they could be. Anything can happen

Answer 9

yes!

Answer 10

no