Animal Planet’s new footage suggests that mermaids, or mermen, may be among us.
Well, not really. We all know that last time Animal Planet released a documentary about the underwater creatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stepped forward to deny the existence of aquatic humanoids. Sigh. Still, Animal Planet went ahead and extended the mermaid documentary with their new piece Mermaids: The New Evidence. Biologist Dr. Paul Robertson returned with fresh new footage of mermaids in the Greenland Sea, and Twitter has been abuzz with excitement since the special aired on Sunday Night.
In a shocking turn of events, Animal Planet’s parent company Discovery has come forward to reveal that the documentary was a hoax. They were excited to explore the human fascination with mermaids and wanted to see how real they could make it look on film. Mermaids creator Charles Foley explains he “wanted the story to appeal to a sense of genuine possibility… incorporating real science and evolutionary theory and real-world scientific examples.”
They did a pretty convincing job. Mermaids: The New Evidence is a great atestment to how developments in science and representation is progressing documentary – and mockumentary.
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Farrah Khaled is an intern at the Toronto Standard. Follow her on twitter at @farkhaly.
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