NOAA: 'no evidence of aquatic humanoids'

In June 2012 the US National Ocean Service, part of NOAA, posted an 'Ocean Facts' answer stating that no evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.

2012 CE · 38.99, -77.03 · status: official

The account

The page followed the Animal Planet mock documentary and the questions it brought in. It adds, gently, that why mermaids occupy the imagination of nearly all seafaring peoples is a question for historians, philosophers and anthropologists. Press around the world reported it as 'the US government says mermaids do not exist'. It is one of the few official statements about a sea being.

Connections in the atlas

• 'Mermaids: The Body Found'
• Henry Hudson's crew sees a mermaid
• The Kiryat Yam mermaid

Sources

1. NOAA National Ocean Service: Are mermaids real?
2. Live Science: Mermaids don't exist, NOAA website notes