Mermaids

For centuries, mermaids have fascinated people as legendary creatures combining human and fish characteristics. Although widely considered mythical, there are accounts from the past that challenge this view. In 1608, the navigator Henry Hudson described an encounter with a mysterious creature in the waters of Novaya Zemlya, and similar sightings occurred in the 19th century in Scotland and the Hebrides. Although science offers rational explanations, such as hallucinations or confusion with marine animals, stories of mermaids continue to arouse curiosity and remain the subject of much speculation.

Everyone probably knows the legendary mermaids—creatures combining the characteristics of humans and fish. They are widely considered to be purely mythological creatures with no real counterparts. However, there are accounts that seem to contradict or at least challenge this claim. The famous sailor, Henry Hudson, described an encounter that took place on June 15, 1608, near Novaya Zemlya. On that occasion, sailors from Hudson's ship spotted a creature in the water that they later described as follows: "it had a back and breasts like a woman's; it was the height of a full-grown man; it had very fair skin and long black hair that flowed down its back." It also had a spotted tail, resembling that of a porpoise. In 1833, near the Shetland Islands, a creature that appeared to be half-human and half-fish was hauled aboard a six-person boat along with fish caught in a net. The creature wasn't aggressive, just grunting so plaintively that after three hours, the fishermen released it back into the sea. The men were later interviewed by a representative from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

According to them, the upper half of the mermaid's body resembled an ape, with a low forehead, a short neck, but also cheeks and full lips, making it more reminiscent of a human. The lower half of the body, however, had a fish-like tail fin and scales. The creature was approximately 1 meter long. Another case occurred in the 1830s on the island of Benbecula in the Hebrides. Near the seashore, several residents spotted a strange creature resembling a mermaid. The creature was scaleless and its body ended in a fish tail. Some time later, a boy threw a stone at it, hitting it in the head and killing the "mermaid." When its body washed ashore, the islanders decided that since it was half human, it deserved a burial. The creature's body was placed in a coffin and buried in a grave near the shore. Unfortunately, no one took a closer look at this story, even though the discovery of the grave and the exhumation of the alleged mermaid's skeleton could ultimately prove or disprove the existence of this strange creature. The Scottish coast near Sandwood Bay is also famous for its mermaid sightings. On January 5, 1900, landowner Alexander Gunn encountered what he claimed was a mermaid there. According to his account, he observed the strange creature for several minutes from a distance of two meters. The mermaid wasn't afraid of him; on the contrary, it stared at Gunn with a certain curiosity, which caused the terrified witness to flee the scene. A similar creature was seen several more times in the same location, and Gunn himself, until his death in 1944, maintained that he had seen the legendary mermaid with his own eyes. Hypotheses attempting to explain these mermaid sightings most often involve hallucinations and mirages, or known marine animals, such as seals or now-extinct sea cows.