Mysterious "Mermaid" Rises From The River

Yeah, Yeah,

And the area thrives on tourist dollars.....
And the picture isn't very good.

And I know that the only source for the Runan Shah creature is Pravda.ru
And you guys get a gold star for pointing out all of these facts.

But sometimes it's interesting to talk about the .01% chance of something being real.

If I couldn't do that once in a while, I'd go nuts with all of this talk of government conspiracies and other depressing crap. This is the fun sie of ATS

So I'm going to take these instances to heart for about an hour or two, then go watch Splash, then get back to reality.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
Yeah, Yeah,

And the area thrives on tourist dollars.....
And the picture isn't very good.

And I know that the only source for the Runan Shah creature is Pravda.ru
And you guys get a gold star for pointing out all of these facts.

But sometimes it's interesting to talk about the .01% chance of something being real.

If I couldn't do that once in a while, I'd go nuts with all of this talk of government conspiracies and other depressing crap. This is the fun sie of ATS

So I'm going to take these instances to heart for about an hour or two, then go watch Splash, then get back to reality.

I'm with you on that one. Sometimes it fun to just imagine even for just a little bit that this could be real. No harm in that right.

from the hawaii photograph article...

"I couldn't believe what I saw. There, not 10 feet from the bow, was what looked like a nude woman.

"She had long flowing hair and one of the most beautiful faces I've ever seen. "


i don't think any underwater creature will have beautiful face or skin. if it's a humanoid that's been living under seawater, it would certainly look like a monster. a really ugly one.

[edit on 22-1-2008 by beastamerica]

The mermaid on the pics has a shirt on (look at the neck and shoulders) and what seems to be a watch on her wrist. Enlarge and find out.
I say hoax

Interesting story! I wish the reporter would have asked more questions of the witnesses. There is a lot of missing detail. I am curious: how did this creature "stand" on the bridge? I thought mermaids had fish bodies from the waist down. I look forward to the results of your further research, whoreallyknows!

Always good to see a South African crypto making its appearance.

Actually the "mermaid" mythical creature is very real for many South African people - the more traditional tribes to be exact. Especially the Zulu tribes on the East coast of South Africa (this supposed sighting was on the West coast) up to Transkei. There have been several reported sightings near Transkei river mouths - but few of them are taken seriously - seeing that eyewitnesses have a very superstition-based believe system.

The Zulu tribe call their mermaid "Mami Wata" or "Mamba Muntu". An African deity of the water and of excess, she is seen as both a mermaid and a beautiful woman walking the streets of modern Africa. (Also referred to as a water-spirit.)

What strikes me is the resemblance between mermaids of the different cultures. The "tall tales" of early sailors of beautiful half-fish/half-woman beings that "lure" men to their deaths, compared to the same beautiful half-fish/half-woman described by the Zulu tribe. Now, keep in mind that the Zulus have had this superstition of "Mami Wata/Mamba Muntu" for hundreds of years - even from before Westerners came to Southern Africa...

For example:

...is an arresting and seductive figure. She is typically adorned with jewels, a watch, comb, and mirror, and inevitably has a large snake wound around her body. She generally has light skin, long, flowing hair (sometimes blonde), and has her torso turned so as to gaze directly into the viewer's eyes...

(Source below.)

You’re not sure whether this is a description of a Western Mermaid or the Black Tribal Water Spirit. It is a description of Mamba Muntu to be exact.

There are as a matter of fact hundreds of African "mythical water creatures" - most of them are however of legendary water snakes.
See here if you're interested in these. A long read, but very interesting.

On a side note, I see they refer in the article, given by the OP, to the mermaid as the "kaaiman". Interestingly enough "kaaiman" is also a Dutch and Afrikaans word for the South American crocodile aka caiman...

There's a drawing on Cryptomundo of the supposed Kaaiman. A long stretch a beautiful girl if you ask me...

This is amazing ! I haven't heard of a mermaid sighting story since my friends father told him a story once about a mermaid he saw in Lebanon . His father was a young man at the time walking along a beach and it was pretty cold that day . But out in the freezing water he swears he saw a naked woman quite comfortably sitting on some jagged rocks and then she looked right at him and made some kind of strange noise . He ran from the beach all the way back to where they were living at the time . My friend's father is the kind of bloke that starts praying 4.30 am in the morning . A very devout Muslim kind of fella . I don't know but he must of seen something to make him run like that . And he swears it was a woman . I'll have to catch up with mi mate for the exact details again sometime . I've noticed with whatever these things are they can make a noise that makes you real sad or fills you with a fear you've never known before .

after all sailors have reported seeing sea monsters and mermaids for centurys i doubt they all made up there stories

reply to post by whoreallyknows


Wow! That story gave me chills... whether or not the people who saw it made it up, or mistook a naturally-occurring animal for this creature, or genuinely SAW a mermaid, picturing it in my head made me a little but uneasy.

reply to post by Trappestine


I agree it was certainly one of those stories that makes the hairs stand up on the back of you neck. No matter what this man saw, it was something the scared the heck out of him and his family

reply to post by Gemwolf


Thanks so much for posting more info about Africa's mermaid tales and stories

After all the sailor stories, and the many cultures and countries having similar mermaid stories, I'm starting to think there really are mermaids or "mermaid like creatures" out there.

This is really interesting.. I now believe that there could be mermaids deep in the ocean somewhere.. But I'm afraid to say that i think the Hawaiian guy is pulling out legs.. I zoomed into the photo and it does very much look like the "Mermaid" is wearing a watch. She also appears to be wearing a dark colored sleeveless top as it appears a different shade to the skin colour on her arms.. And if the shot was taken from underneath her where are her female parts etc.. i thought they had a human top half :S Also what i like aobut the first story is as soon as he feels he is in danger, he calls for his 11 year old and 13 year old children.. GOOD FATHER -_- haha interesting to know all the facts about the mermaids though.. I'd like to see one i think.. Apparently their voice is so mesmorizing that it draws u into the water and u drown.. But this man was saying she was crying.. I wonder what the true story is.. I guess we'll never know, or maybe u will.. but u might not live to tell the tale.. The down side to this story is that i always thought mermaids were such beautiful creatures, now they sound kinda scary.. Red eyes? Crying? Drowning? :

wow !!!!! i really wanta see a pic of a real mermaid, does anyone have a link to any????