Search

A mermaid is a mythical, ocean-dwelling creature whose upper body is a human female but whose lower body resembles the tail of a fish. Mermaids populate the legends and folklore of cultures around the world, from Europe and Asia to Africa and the Americas. However, tales of "mermaid" sightings also have been preserved in the historical record in the words of famed seafarers. In the twenty-first century, a few television specials about mermaids have led millions of gullible viewers to mistakenly believe that mermaids are real.