The documentary “Mermaids: The Body Found” was re-aired on Discovery Channel last Sunday, July 15, 2012, confusing more people if mermaids indeed really exist.

In describing the show, Discovery says, “What if there’s a kernel of truth behind the legend of this mythic creature? Is the idea of mermaids really so far-fetched? Maybe so, maybe not. The show itself, though science fiction, is based on some real events and scientific theory.”

In the program, two former National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists, after investigating mass stranding of whales in 2007, claimed to have recorded mysterious underwater noises coming from an unknown source. This sound resembled a sound previously recorded in 1997, called the “bloop”.

Mermaids The Body Found

In studying “bloop”, they recognized the sound of another animal mixed in with the sounds of the whales and dolphins. After more closely inspecting it, they discovered that an unknown creature was communicating with them.

Mermaid Body Found on South Africa Shore

Later on, there was another mass beaching in South Africa. The researchers in South Africa had recorded similar sounds on their own devices. The team traveled there to investigate.

They then recovered 30% of the remains of this unknown creature from inside a great white shark stomach which was said to possess attributes of the human body. They alleged that the marine creature had hands, not fins, and the hip structure of an upright animal. These findings, along with many others led the team to determine that this unknown animal was very closely related to humans — a mermaid.

Unfortunately, the US government confiscated the remains and their research as the team was about to return to the United States. The only thing that they had left was the bloop. The team tracked down one of two boys that had reportedly seen a mermaid body on the beach the morning of the first mass whale beaching. He said that he captured the mermaid on his camera phone.

Mermaid Skeletons Found in Egypt and Bulgaria Are Fake

In line with the curiosity of people if mermaids do really exist, two pictures of mermaid skeletons surfaced in the internet which became viral.

The first one, labeled as ‘mermaid skeleton found in Bulgaria’ is a fake one and is just a combination of three different images combined using a photo manipulation software.

The mermaid skeleton is actually the “Mermaid Skeleton Found!” art by the1calledDAN, 6th place entry in Archaeological Anomalies 13 – Amazing archaeological discoveries! from Worth 1000, an image manipulation and contest website.

Mermaid Skeleton Found in Bulgaria

(Left) Human skeleton where mermaid skeleton was derived (right)

Another mermaid skeleton photo allegedly found in Egypt also became viral. However, just like the picture above, the said photo below is fake which came from worth1000.com who won the 3rd entry in Archaeological Anomalies 3.

Mermaid Skeleton Found in Egypt

In addition, mermaid videos proliferated in YouTube trying to prove the existence of mermaids. However, none of these were proven to be authentic. An example of a video is shown below:

When it first aired on the Animal Planet in May, “Mermaids: The Body Found” prompted the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to release a statement denying the existence of mermaids after receiving calls from viewers who confused the information on the show as facts and wanted to learn more about the creatures.

“Half-human creatures, called chimeras, also abound in mythology — in addition to mermaids, there were wise centaurs, wild satyrs, and frightful minotaurs, to name but a few. But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.,” a statement reads at NOAA’s official website NOAA.gov.