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SmartArt process showing the evolution of Mermaids over time.

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Word Document attached with reflection questions

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Since this "sighting" in Kiryat Yam, Israel, tourists have been flocking to this spot to try and catch their own glimpse of this mermaid. This is the original clip that sparked curiosity at this destination. This video is relevant to our topic because it is considered "raw evidence" to many people believing in the Mermaid myth.

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Learn all about the Aquatic Ape Theory at this site. This theory is the basis for the evolution of Mermaids. This site provides information on what this theory is.

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This was a mermaid hoax performed a few years ago. An apparent skeleton was found by this man.

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This a commonly seen vintage mermaid painting. A vision of what a mermaid could have looked like in earlier times. This relates to our topic because it provides a vision of what our ancestors portrayed these beings to look like.

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"Mermaid Discovery" in the Greenland Sea

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"Mermaid Discovery" in the Greenland Sea

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This raw image video was filmed by a group of researchers in the Greenland Sea. 3000 feet below sea level, they videotaped what appears to be a "mermaid". This video sparked controversy and interest from many across the world. It was featured on the Animal Planet's documentary Mermaids: The New Evidence & Mermaids: The Body Found. This video is relevant to our topic because it showcases the controversy surrounding these myths and the skepticism from people around the world.

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This article outlines the different scientific reasoning on why mermaids cannot physically exist. Loosely based off of The Animal Planet documentaries.

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This guest post is brought to you by Sheanna Steingass. Shea is a graduate student at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute studying the behavioral ecology of pinnipeds. She is also author of Oregonbeachcomber.com, a marine debris blog focusing on the Pacific Northwest.
"Mermaids are real- I saw it on Animal Planet!"

No, you didn't. That 'documentary' was in fact a new generation of fictional media called a 'mockumentary', or as Animal Planet puts it, 'docudrama.' It's like "This is Spinal Tap" for marine biology. And they admit that. http://realscreen.com/2013/08/07/discovery-defends-shark-week-special/ However, people took the show so seriously that in order to deal with massive amounts of inquiries, NOAA had to issue an official statement that, to their knowledge, mermaids aren't real. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/mermaids.html

A critical look at the Animal Planet 'docudrama' reveals abominable (excuse the pun) CGI, combined with scripted interviews with actors. And who can blame them? People love mermaids, they delivered, and they made a ton of money. In fact, it worked so well that they produced another fictional (FICTIONAL!) docudrama, "Megalodon" for Shark Week.

Most scientists wouldn't touch the subject of mermaids with a ten foot pole- I am going full contact.
Why couldn't mermaids exist? Here are 5 reasons.
1: They would freeze to death. Quickly, and matter what ocean. Especially those skinny Ariel/Disney types. The truth is, the human-like body form is not made for surviving long periods in the water. Check this out:

Sure, there are areas of the ocean that are above 70 degrees- on the SURFACE. Assuming mermaids would want to live out in the bottom of the open ocean, it is just too cold for them. And, once you get down a few meters, water temperature drops dramatically.

So what would a cold-hardy mermaid look like? 1: really hairy, or 2: really fat. Or: 3: both.

The first option would to look like a marine mammals, whose thick blubber layers protect them from cold, dark waters. What of smaller animals? The second option for thermoregulation is a thick coat of hair- such as that of Enhydra lutra¸ or the sea otter. The sea otter has more than 900,000 hairs per square inch (Kuhn et al. 2010). The problem? Otters have to groom themselves often to keep their hair filled with air, and not with water (Fish et al. 2002). Very inconvenient if you are an elusive denizen of the deep.

And those long slender arms? They would freeze off. Marine mammals have fusiform bodies (reducing surface area-to- volume ratio) and short appendages that can withstand reduced bloodflow and heat.

So, essentially, you would end up with a very hairy or obese mermaid with stubby arms.

2: You can't pick and choose...body parts Picture your typical mermaid- a graceful female with the scaled tail of a fish. Mammals are defined by being warm-blooded and having hair; fish do not. An animal cannot have both human and fish-defining characteristics- it's just all wrong, evolutionarily speaking. The human line of evolution is fairly well-mapped. Prior to the development of hominids, humans and fish are so far branching down the evolutionary tree that the first marsupial mammals appeared during the Jurassic period 173 million years ago (Kumar and Hedges 1998).

Additionally, the idea that somehow a human bred with a fish and produced viable, virile offspring is just ridiculous. Which brings us to the next point...

3: They would go extinct. How do mermaids reproduce? They are human down to the waist, after all. Well, there are two options for that. First, they could do it human-style. Which means that they'd have to get it on the mammalian way- with internal fertilization. But what if you have fish parts down there? Most fish reproduce externally- with females depositing eggs in the environment and males fertilizing them.

Could mermaids lay eggs? Think again! The only mammals that produce eggs are the echidna and platypus- the monotremes of the class Mammalia. And these guys don't have any teeth, look nothing like a human, and really would make a poor excuse for a mermaid.

Oh, and don't even get me started on sex ratio. As far as I can tell, there are waaaay more mer maids than mer men.

4: They would be constipated. While we're talking about plumbing, the fish and mammal digestive processes are so very different, they cannot jive. Mammals digest food via complex digestive tracts, which produce solid waste and urine- a sterile byproduct composed mostly of water and waste, salts, and proteins. Fish kidneys produce ammonia- which is expelled via their gills. Yep, they essentially pee through their gills. ( http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/633ureacycle.html)

As for digesting food, where humans have well-developed large and small intestines, fish have one simple intestine.

So really, you can't have an animal with a mammalian digestive tract and a fish-designed hind end. Even more tellingly- can you point out the butt on a mermaid? Didn't think so.

5: We have no physical evidence. Really. If the existence of such a creature were true, it would literally change the face of science- and why would it be covered up if it were a real animal? That makes for a good plotline, but doesn't make any logical sense- what global conspiracy would cover these things up? If mermaids existed, the scientific world would be studying them endlessly, and grant money would fall like rain during monsoon season. The world would know.

So there you have it- mermaids would be very cold, sterile, constipated, and probably extinct, which seems pretty miserable to me. So the next time you see something you think looks too good to be real, think again - because it probably is.

Literature Cited

Kumar, S., and S. B. Hedges. 1998. A molecular timescale for vertebrate evolution. Nature 392:917-920.

Fish, F. E., Smelstoys, J., Baudinette, R. V., & Reynolds, P. S. (2002). Fur doesn't fly, it floats: buoyancy of pelage in semi-aquatic mammals. Aquatic Mammals, 28(2), 103-112.

Craig McClain is the Executive Director of the Lousiana University Marine Consortium. He has conducted deep-sea research for 20 years and published over 50 papers in the area. He has participated in and led dozens of oceanographic expeditions taken him to the Antarctic and the most remote regions of the Pacific and Atlantic. Craig's research focuses on how energy drives the biology of marine invertebrates from individuals to ecosystems, specifically, seeking to uncover how organisms are adapted to different levels of carbon availability, i.e. food, and how this determines the kinds and number of species in different parts of the oceans. Additionally, Craig is obsessed with the size of things. Sometimes this translated into actually scientific research. Craig's research has been featured on National Public Radio, Discovery Channel, Fox News, National Geographic and ABC News. In addition to his scientific research, Craig also advocates the need for scientists to connect with the public and is the founder and chief editor of the acclaimed Deep-Sea News (http://deepseanews.com/), a popular ocean-themed blog that has won numerous awards. His writing has been featured in Cosmos, Science Illustrated, American Scientist, Wired, Mental Floss, and the Open Lab: The Best Science Writing on the Web.

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Fishful Thinking: Five Reasons why Mermaids Can't Physically Exist

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This guest post is brought to you by Sheanna Steingass. Shea is a graduate student at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute studying the behavioral ecology of pinnipeds. She is also author of Oregonbeachcomber.com, a marine debris blog focusing on the Pacific Northwest. "Mermaids ar

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A "Bloop" is an under-water, ultra-low frequency (but powerful) sound detected by the N.O.A.A in 1997. Some believe this low frequency sound is a form of communication between the mermaid community. It has a distinct sound unlike any other aquatic animal known to man. Although the N.O.A.A does not associate this sound with the Mermaid phenomena, many other skeptical scientists believe there is a link between the two. The "Bloop" is relevant to our topic because it is believed to be the form of communication used by "Mermaids".

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Bloop was an ultra-low-frequency and extremely powerful underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1997. In 2002 it was said to be consistent with large marine animals, though it was also consistent with the noises generated by icequakes in large icebergs, or large icebergs scraping the ocean floor.

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A Clip Describing The Aquatic Ape Theory

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A Clip Describing The Aquatic Ape Theory

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This is a short clip of the Animal Planet documentary that discusses a theoretical mermaid history and how humans could have evolved in water. The documentary is called "Mermaids: The Body Found". The documentary is about an hour and a half in total, and is very interesting to watch whether you are a believer or not. This clip specifically focuses on the Human Ape Theory, and poses questions such as: Why do we have webbing between our fingers and toes that other land animals do not? Why can humans hold their breath nearly as long as a dolphin can dive? Why do we have thick fat layers that keep us warm in water?  It is relative to our topic because it applies real life science to the myth of Mermaids and tries to shed some light on how they could exist.

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Did Humans Evolve From Aquatic Mammals? | Mermaids

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Humans are among some of the strangest land mammals. For starters we can hold our breath underwater longer than any other creature and babies instinctively hold their breath under water. Could humans have once called the sea home? Watch more MERMAIDS video: http://animal.discovery.com/videos/mermaids/#mkcpgn=ytapl1

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This classic Disney tale is familiar to most of us and is a clear distinction of what most of us think a mermaid may look like (in animation, of course). It relates to our topic because it is a recognizable icon in which people can relate to the Mermaid myth.