Researchers are diligently searching for a satisfactory answer for a legendary half-human, half-fish creature that many people call ‘mermaid’.

Appearances of the Little Mermaid in history

Around 1,000 BC, the first legends about mermaids appeared. At that time, the story spread about the Syrian goddess jumping into the lake to transform into a fish, but the goddess did not completely transform into a fish but into an extremely strange half-human, half-fish creature.

In 1403, people first claimed to see mermaids in the Netherlands. A flesh-and-blood mermaid was discovered by a group of fishermen after the flood waters quickly receded. In the book Speculum Mundi published by English Minister John Swan in 1635, this stranded mermaid soon adapted to her new life, loved to roam, wore beautiful clothes, but absolutely did not say a word.

Throughout history, many people claimed to have seen mermaids. One of them is the great explorer Christopher Columbus. The first person to discover America said he saw mermaids during his journey to North America. This excited the explorer so much that he recorded that moment in his diary, according to National Geographic.

‘On January 8, 1493, when we arrived in the region of Rio del Oro, in Haiti, I saw three mermaids, but they were not as beautiful as we thought, because their faces had the features of men,’ Columbus wrote. .

The London Daily newspaper in 1738 also published a photo of a little mermaid found on the coast of the Hebrides. However, people stoned this little mermaid because they thought it was a monster. When discovered, people carefully buried the mermaid.

In addition, corpses of creatures believed to be mermaids also appear in many places around the world such as Russia, the Philippines, Spain,…

FeeJee mummy, the most controversial evidence of mermaids

In 1842, Dr. Griffith introduced the mummy of the mermaid FeeJee in New York, USA. This was warmly received by scientists and curious people. According to Dr. Griffith, the FeeJee mummy is 0.5 m long, 0.2 m high and 0.2 m wide and firmly confirms that this is a mermaid caught by Japanese fishermen.

Since then, people have built models of the FeeJee mummy and spread them around the world. For a long time, the original mummy was displayed at Barnum Museum, Connecticut, USA. However, it was lost in a fire at this museum.

At that time, FeeJee’s mummy was floating everywhere, passing from person to person. Sailors believe that FeeJee is a symbol of good luck, while circus artists consider mummies as objects to attract the audience’s attention.

In 1919, FeeJee’s mummy was found in a fish market in England. More than 60 years later, it was donated to the Horniman museum (UK) and has been kept there until now.

Ancient scientists were very excited to research the legendary creature mermaid, but all conclusions about this half-human, half-fish creature reached a ‘dead end’. And they were even more shocked when they saw FeeJee’s mummy. Many people also believe that it is a mummified mermaid.