Are Mermaids Real? Mermaids Found In Nkandla, Hoaxer Claims

Mermaids: half human, half fish and nothing less than fascinating. But are they real? There isn’t any scientific proof Earth’s oceans are occupied by the mythical creature, yet believers continue to find “proof” of the legendary being exists.

When Animal Planet released “Mermaids: The Body Found” in 2012 and then “Mermaids: New Evidence” in 2013, many netizens went wild about the “mockumentary,” that provided phony evidence. Recently, the hype ignited after story from a blogger on Lifestyle Tabloid claimed two mermaids were found alive in the Nkandla, South Africa.

The site provides a “statement” from Mac Maharaj, the official spokesperson for South African president Jacob Zuma: “The president of the republic, Jacob Zuma, would like to set on record that although the two mermaids were discovered in a pool situated inside his Nkandla homestead, he was not aware of their existence,” the statement apparently read.

The mermaids in the photo have high cheekbones and full lips, giving them the glamorous appearance many imagine the half human creatures would have, and scaly skin and fin make the visual look real, too. The hoax was perpetuated on Twitter where a photo of the mermaid went viral, with more than 8,000 retweets.

As legitimate as it might look though, it’s still a hoax. The mermaid is just a prop created by makeup and special effects artist Joel Harlow for the 2011 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," About News wrote.

If that’s not enough, the The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration issued an official statement after “Mermaids: The Body Found” premiered, saying: “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found. Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples? That’s a question best left to historians, philosophers, and anthropologists.”

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