Among modern readers, mermaids usually live in the realm of fairy‑tale charm—a symbol of nature’s uncanny power, a warning that appearances can deceive, or even a pop‑culture icon with glittering hair and a voice that could melt steel. Yet, in earlier centuries, perfectly rational‑looking people not only believed in these half‑fish beings but also swore they actually laid eyes on one. Below are ten totally reliable (mostly) witnesses who claim to have seen a mermaid, ranging from famed explorers to humble river fishers.
10 Totally Reliable Accounts
10 Christopher Columbus
In 1492, the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus set sail to find a shortcut to Asia, only to stumble upon a brand‑new continent. While charting the waters near what is now the Dominican Republic, he scribbled in his log that three mermaids had crossed his path, describing them as “not half as beautiful as they are painted” and noting a few oddly masculine features.
Modern scholars agree that Columbus most likely mistook a manatee or dugong for a siren. These sea‑cows can perform “tail‑stands,” lifting their heads and torsos above water, and their fore‑limbs vaguely resemble arms. After six months at sea and perhaps a few too many mugs of rum, it’s easy to see how an experienced mariner could misidentify a gentle marine mammal for a mythic creature.
Columbus wasn’t the only one to be duped. In 1826, the Portsmouth Philosophical Society displayed what they believed to be a mermaid skeleton, only to discover it was a dugong—much less glamorous, but still a fascinating reminder of how easily folklore can masquerade as fact.
9 Taro Horiba
During the tumult of 1943, a squad of Japanese soldiers stationed on Indonesia’s Kei Islands reported bizarre sightings in nearby lagoons. According to the troops, the creatures possessed human‑like faces paired with carp‑like mouths bristling with needle‑sharp teeth. They stood roughly three feet tall, sported pink skin, and bore spiky crowns atop their heads.
When the soldiers consulted local islanders, they were told these beings were called “Orang Ikan,” Malay for “fish people,” and were allegedly common in the area. Fishermen sometimes hauled them into nets, promising to keep a specimen for the troops to examine.
Sergeant Taro Horiba claimed he was shown a creature that seemed half‑human, half‑ape, and half‑fish—all three halves at once—complete with webbed fingers and toes. Though he never snapped a photograph, Horiba spent considerable post‑war effort urging zoologists to investigate, insisting that the encounter was genuine.
8 The Chief Of A Scottish Clan
In 1830, crofters on the Outer Hebrides were gathering seaweed when they caught sight of a petite woman bobbing in the surf. When a boy hurled a stone at her as she tried to flee, the onlookers claimed to hear a painful cry before she vanished beneath the waves.
Days later, the lifeless form washed ashore. The local community summoned the chief of Clanranald—who also served as the regional sheriff—to view the specimen. Witnesses described the upper half as child‑sized, with unusually large breasts, soft white skin, and long dark hair, while the lower half resembled a scaleless salmon.
The clan chief ordered a shroud and coffin, and the mermaid was interred in a nearby churchyard. The funeral reportedly attracted the largest crowd the village had ever seen, yet no headstone was ever funded, leaving the exact burial spot a mystery to this day.
7 The Shaman Of Hakata
Japanese folklore often depicts mermaids as sleek, fish‑like beings with razor‑sharp teeth and occasional horns. In 1222, a mermaid allegedly washed ashore at Hakata Bay. A local shaman declared the creature an auspicious sign, and its remains were laid to rest in Ryuguji Temple, whose name translates to “the undersea palace of the dragon god.”
For centuries, pilgrims were offered water infused with the mermaid’s bones, believed to ward off epidemics. Six of the bones still reside within the temple, smoothed by years of ritual immersion.
Modern scientists who have examined the bones suspect they may be a composite of several animals, possibly even ordinary cattle, rather than any known aquatic species. Nevertheless, the legend endures, drawing curious visitors to the enigmatic tomb.
6 Henry Hudson
Early‑17th‑century English explorer Henry Hudson, famed for his Arctic quests, found his passage blocked by ice on several voyages. While navigating the frigid waters near Novaya Zemlya, he reported an encounter with a mermaid.
Hudson described the creature as having a woman’s torso up to the navel—white‑skinned with long black hair—while the lower half resembled a speckled porpoise tail. Whether he truly saw a siren or simply a marine mammal remains a topic of debate.
5 Prince Shotoku
Prince Shotoku, a seventh‑century Japanese statesman, is remembered for instituting the Seventeen‑Article Constitution. Legend holds that a dying merman—known as a ningyo—appeared to him at Lake Biwa, pleading for a temple to house his remains as a cautionary reminder to errant fishermen.
The shrine, called Tenshou‑Kyousha, still stands near Mount Fuji, where monks guard the mummified mermaid body, preserving the eerie tale of a fish‑folk warning delivered to one of Japan’s most influential leaders.
4 Captain Richard Whitbourne
Richard Whitbourne, a seasoned explorer and writer of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, earned a reputation for battling the Spanish Armada and provisioning Newfoundland’s fisheries. In 1610, off the coast of Newfoundland, he chronicled a mermaid that swam “cheerfully” toward his small craft.
Whitbourne noted that the creature rose high enough for him to glimpse her bare shoulders and back, though he never saw her face. At one point she attempted to climb aboard, but a startled sailor struck her on the head with an oar, prompting her to retreat to a neighboring vessel before the crew fled back to shore in terror.
The account, written in Whitbourne’s meticulous hand, suggests a vivid, if unsettling, encounter—perhaps aided by a generous pour of rum.
3 Captain John Smith
Captain John Smith, famed for his leadership of the Jamestown colony, was praised by Thomas Jefferson as “honest, sensible, and well‑informed.” Some accounts claim that in 1614 he observed a green‑haired woman, “by no means unattractive,” swimming in the nearby waters, only to witness her transform into a mermaid tail as she dove.
Scholars argue that the story likely stems from later embellishment—perhaps by Alexandre Dumas—since no original notes from Smith contain such a claim. Manatees, common in the Chesapeake Bay, could have been mistaken for a mermaid, especially when viewed from behind.
2 Blackbeard
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, began his seafaring life as a privateer before turning pirate. His flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, terrorized Caribbean waters until it ran aground in 1718, an event some historians think he orchestrated to shed his unruly crew.
Before meeting his violent end, Blackbeard allegedly consulted his logbooks and ordered his crew to avoid “enchanted” waters rumored to be inhabited by merfolk. He is said to have personally sighted these ethereal beings, prompting a cautious avoidance of the haunted seas.
1 Henry Loucks
Henry Loucks, a seasoned fisherman plying Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, earned a reputation for reliability on the water. In 1881, he reported five separate sightings of a mermaid that surfaced at sunrise and dusk, floated briefly, then sank, leaving only a strand of hair on the water’s surface before vanishing into a deep river cave.
Loucks admitted he contemplated shooting the creature but feared murder charges, so he let it slip away. When asked whether the mermaid possessed the classic comb and mirror, he replied, “It might have had, but I didn’t see it.” Newspaper pleas followed, offering immunity to anyone who would capture the mermaid—alive or dead—but no one ever claimed the reward.
To this day, the Susquehanna’s shimmering depths hold the mystery of Loucks’ elusive aquatic visitor.