A-Z Challenge: M is for Mermaids & N is for Ningen

Next up on the AtoZ Challenge is another double post for the letters M & N! For the letter M for my Under the Sea Myths & Legends,  I'm posting about a sea creature myth that everyone already knows about...

Mermaids

Mermaids have been around for centuries. Some say as far back as the 25 century BC. These sea creatures come in both male and female and are described as half human and half fish. There have been many maritime stories about

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 these beasts. Some say these superstitious tales started from hallucinating sailors after being stranded at sea long periods of time. It's not a far stretch that a sailor with little food and water could hallucinate just about anything. It's unlikely that anything could be proven some hundred plus years ago either. Today, however, people have so much access to their cell phones to capture the mysterious on video and frankly, anything's possible. Right? Maybe. Take a look at this video below and determine if you think this myth is real or not.

There have been historical sightings of mermaids since the 1400's from Christopher Columbus and even in the 1600's from John Smith, the famous explorer who worked with Pocahontas.  According to this legend, Captain Smith said "he was sailing off an island in the West Indies and saw a woman “swimming with all possible grace” who, despite her “long green hair” was “by no means unattractive.” The intrigued Captain Smith then observed that “from below the stomach the woman gave way to the fish” as the lovely siren slipped away." 

Cool, huh? Who knows?

The Letter N

For the letter N for my Under the Sea Myths & Legends,  I'm diving into Japanese folklore about a strange sea monster that, to be honest, I've never heard about before.

N is for Ningen

This sea monster is considered more of a humanoid-life form and some consider them to be the Japenese mermaid. The term "Ningen" means human and the creature, according to sources, is described as being white, approximately 20+ meters long and having a human-like shape with fingers and a possible tail. Other sources describe these creatures with fins and tentacles or possibly mermaid-like. Whatever these sea beasts look like, some have mistaken them for white whale because of their size? That seems a bit far off to confuse a whale for a bizarre-looking sea creature. Still, these under the sea creatures have caught a ton of buzz lately. There have been numerous sightings, causing much speculation about these monster origins.

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Many sources say these massive beasts live in Antarctica, while others say they've traveled as far as Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Are they real? Well, other than some grainy images/videos caught on film, these creatures seem to be more myth than anything else. Still, watching videos like the ones below, certainly makes you wonder...

That's it for the letter M & N. What do you think? Is the footage weak or wicked?

Mina Burrows