US viewers fooled by mermaid show

A US government agency has had to deny the existence of mermaids, after some viewers were fooled by a fictional TV show.

The National Ocean Service issued a statement on its website after it was contacted by people following the show 'Mermaids: The Body Found' on the Discover Channel's Animal Planet network.

“Mermaids - those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea - are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial,” it reads.

“The ancient Greek epic poet Homer wrote of them in ‘The Odyssey’. But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.”

It’s believed the format of the show led a number of people to think that it was an educational programme. [BBC/The Mirror]
[link to uk.tv.yahoo.com]