Do Mermaids Exist?

Mermaids are legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Although some mermaids are described as monstrous and ugly, they are more usually very beautiful. Tales of mermaids have been around for centuries. According to some sources, the first stories have been said to appear in ancient Assyria.

In the summer of 349 BCE, Atargatis was humiliated when the public discovered she had conceived a child out of wedlock with Hashim son of Kadar, a notorious seductor and sheepherder. The shame of her adultery drove her to dive into nearby Lake Ashkelon where it seems she intended to drown. The spirits of the lake however found death too kind a fate for her. They transformed her bottom half into that of a fish, at once giving her a new life underwater.

Legend has it that mermaids like to comb their long hair. In art, they are usually shown with a mirror and a comb. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, and shipwrecks and drowning.
So are mermaids just a myth or do they actually exist? There have been debates worldwide on mermaids as to if they actually exist or they are just a myth. Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids while exploring the Caribbean. In August 2009, after dozens of people reported seeing a mermaid leaping out of water, the Israeli coast town of Kiryat Yam offered a whooping sum of one million dollars award for proof of its existence.
Up till date, as to if these semi-humans actually exist is still a mystery, but like the saying goes, nothing hides under the sun forever!

Story:

Kemi Kudirat Baba Musah