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The ocean has always been the last great unknown. Long before maps were complete, before satellites scanned every inch of the earth, sailors stared out into endless water and swore something was staring back.

Mermaids didn’t begin as the bright, red-haired figure we know today. They began in the shadows—ancient myths of half-human creatures tied to gods, shame, and transformation. In Greece, they weren’t even fish, but deadly Sirens whose voices lured men to their deaths. By the Middle Ages, they became symbols of temptation—beautiful, dangerous, and impossible to trust.

But not all stories paint them as monsters.

Some tell of mermaids living among humans… quietly learning how to survive on land. Others speak of sea-women taken from the ocean, only to leave years later when they find their way back. Sailors like Christopher Columbus claimed to see them—though not quite as beautiful as expected—while others, like John Smith, described something far more captivating.

And then there are the strange cases. The stitched “Feejee Mermaid” that fooled thousands. The eerie mermaid mummies in Japan. Even modern sightings, where people still claim to see something sitting on rocks just before disappearing beneath the waves.

So what are mermaids, really?

A misidentified animal? A shared illusion? Or something deeper—something that lives in the space between what we see and what we want to believe?

Tonight, the boys dive into the long, strange history of mermaids—from ancient myth to Disney—and explore why, even now, we’re not entirely ready to let them go.