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No. Mermaids do not exist, nor have they ever. Mermaids are mythical creatures and do not exist in the real world. In early times sailors saw animals that, to them, looked similar to people in the torso and similar to fish from the waist down (perhaps they saw dugongs or manatees). These sightings, were probably more frequent, the longer the ship had been at sea. So seamen, generally not highly educated in those days, thought they were seeing mermaids (maids of the sea). There are anecdotal accounts of men jumping overboard to meet these creatures, so strong in the moment, was their belief. The manatee's taxonomic order, Serenia, is taken from the, also mythical, sirensof The Odyssey (Odysseus) fame.

However, having said all that, it must be noted that there are now, and have been since prehistoric times, humans leading semi-aquatic lives. Perhaps these ancient mariners happened upon some of these people, who were really not mermaids, either.

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12y ago

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