The question as to whether mermaids are real or not was recently put to rest as a U.S. scientific agency confirmed that the sea creatures do not exist.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed that there is no evidence that the half-human, half-fish beings are a genuine living species.
The agency made a statement last week clarifying that the sea species is not real after they received a few calls following a fictional Animal Planet show called Mermaids: The Body Found that confused some viewers as fact.
The agency said on its website: ‘Mermaids – those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea – are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial.’
The short piece continued: ‘But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.’
Images and tales of mermaids – half-human, half-fish – appear in mythology and art from across the world and through history, from Homer’s Odyssey to the oral lore of the Australian aboriginals, the service wrote.