Bizarre Divers' Encounters with Real Mermaids

One creature that has managed to weave its way into the lore and legends of various cultures is the mermaid. Mermaids feature in a vast swath of folklore from all over the world, and in some cultures, such beings are considered more than mere myth, with some areas accepting them as real and a matter of course. Indeed, there have been many encounters reported with supposedly real mermaids, and it is one of the stranger cryptozoological phenomena out there. Here we will delve into some reports of divers coming across these mystical entities, in an array of baffling accounts that are as intriguing as they are bizarre. 

Some very bizarre reports come to us from the site Imaginarious, which deals heavily with mermaid sightings and lore. In one account, a diver was diving somewhere in the Caribbean when she heard a “haunting melody” that seemed to beckon her toward deeper waters. As she followed that ethereal melody, she eventually came face to face with a “siren,” a type of mermaid, and the report reads:

“As the deep-sea diver descended into the Caribbean's mystical depths, a haunting melody beckoned her deeper into the ocean's embrace, weaving a mesmerizing spell that captivated her every sense. The enigmatic allure of the underwater world enveloped her, and as she followed the ethereal songs, she encountered the mesmerizing beauty of the Siren of the Caribbean. The siren's enchanting presence was a testament to the captivating legends that had echoed through generations. Her iridescent scales shimmered like precious gems in the dappled sunlight that filtered down from the surface, and her haunting voice resonated with an otherworldly grace. The diver found herself drawn to the siren, her heart pounding with a mixture of fear and wonder. The siren's enigmatic allure held her in a trance, her movements fluid and graceful as she danced through the azure waters. The diver couldn't help but be captivated by the siren's hypnotic performance, feeling a deep connection to the ocean's mythical maiden. It was a moment of pure magic, where reality and fantasy intertwined in the most enchanting of ways.”

What was going on here? In another similar report, a diver in the Indian Ocean came face to face with a mermaid, of which the report reads:

“Amidst the undulating currents of the Indian Ocean, the deep-sea diver found herself immersed in a spellbinding encounter with an otherworldly creature of unparalleled beauty and mystery. As she delved into the depths of the ocean, the water around her seemed to shimmer with an ethereal glow, casting an enchanting aura over the underwater landscape. Suddenly, a graceful figure emerged from the swirling marine mist, revealing the form of a mesmerizing mermaid, her iridescent scales reflecting the ambient light in a breathtaking display of underwater enchantment. The diver's heart raced as she beheld the mythical creature, her presence evoking a sense of wonder and awe. The mermaid's siren song echoed through the ocean, captivating the diver with its haunting melody. Mesmerized by the encounter, the diver felt as though she'd stumbled upon a living legend, a being of myth and magic existing in the depths of the Indian Ocean. In that fleeting moment, amidst the hidden wonders of the deep, the diver's encounter with the mythical maiden became a cherished memory, forever etched in the annals of deep sea exploration.”

Also, we have a supposed encounter from the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia, where an unnamed diver came across not just one mermaid, but a whole group of them. The report says:

“In the vibrant depths of the Great Barrier Reef, a diver found themselves spellbound by a mesmerizing encounter with an otherworldly presence. As they ventured through the crystal-clear waters, they stumbled upon an enchanting sight – a group of ethereal mermaids gracefully gliding amidst the coral gardens. The diver couldn't believe their luck and immediately reached for their underwater camera to capture this surreal moment. The mermaids, with their shimmering tails and flowing hair, seemed to exude an aura of mystery and beauty that was truly captivating. In that fleeting moment, the diver felt a profound connection with the marine environment and realized the importance of marine conservation. The encounter with these mythical maidens served as a reminder of the need to protect and preserve the fragile ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef. As they swam alongside the mermaids, the diver was filled with an overwhelming sense of awe and respect for the underwater world. This encounter became a pivotal moment, igniting a passion within the diver to advocate for the conservation of marine life and its habitats.”

Moving on to other cases, in 1988, a professional scuba diver named Robert Froster was diving near the coast of Florida when he noticed some strange disturbance in the water in his periphery vision. When he turned to see what it was, he saw a figure dashing through water that had been rendered murky and foggy through the stirring up of sediments. Whatever it was appeared to be undulating somewhat towards him, and when it got to within 20 yards the diver noticed that the thing had arm-like appendages that seemed to be tipped in talons and were reaching out towards him. As it drew closer still, Froster claimed that he could see that its top half had smooth skin, unmistakable breasts, and a head of flowing hair, while the bottom half was covered in scales. Whatever it was did not seem friendly, and the frightened diver would say of its gaze, “I’ve never seen such evil hate in the eyes of any human or animal before.” He was able to make it to the surface and aboard his vessel without further incident.

In another account from August of 1991, a diver was out in the water near Cape Aya, on the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine, in the Black Sea. He was about 100 meters off of the coast in calm seas under a full moon when he suddenly felt something poking at his shoulder. Turning around to see what it was, there was only the splashing of water all around. Thinking that his friends were playing a practical joke on him, the witness began to swim toward shore thinking nothing of it. That was when he experienced a strong strike to his shoulder, and this time when he turned around he was met with the sight of the face of a woman there in the water, although her eyes were described as being much larger than normal, and even creepier still she seemed to exude a bioluminescence.

The scared witness immediately made his way towards shore with as much vigor as he could muster, and behind him, he could hear thrashing in the water, which he forced himself not to look back at, afraid of what he might see. As he drew near to the shore, perhaps thinking that he was away from the thing that he had encountered, he felt another powerful jab to his shoulder, and he saw once again the face of the mysterious swimming woman, her eyes black and expressing what he called “disappointment.” The swimmer rushed onto shore screaming, and looking back he could purportedly make out a silvery body splashing on the surface to disappear down into the black depths. Although the terrifying experience was over, he found himself obsessed with what he had seen, even seeing the strange woman in his dreams and felt compelled to go back several times to the same location but never saw her again.

In an account related directly to me, a diver was out diving in the azure waters of Maldives when he claimed from out of nowhere there appeared three mermaids that began to circle him. He described them as having dolphin-like tails, and humanoid upper bodies. The upper bodies were described as looking very androgynous, with no hair on the heads, smooth skin, and faces that were described as "feral looking," with sharp teeth and black eyes like a shark. These creatures allegedly circled the diver for a few minutes, seeming to study him, before darting out of sight. 

From April of 1998 there is the weird account of dive master Jeff Leicher, 43, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. At the time, Leicher was diving with a tour group of six other divers who were exploring the ocean bottom about 20 minutes off Hawaii’s sunny Kona coast. At some point he saw what looked like a woman just 10 feet away, swimming with a pod of dolphins and keeping up with their fast pace, which Leicher thought was odd. Then it got odder when he noticed that the woman had a fish tail. He would say of the incredible encounter:

“I’d heard about her before. Most of us who are out in these waters regularly have heard stories. But I’d never seen her until that morning. We were on our way out to the point when a school of dolphins started following the boat, playing in our wake. Suddenly one of the men on the port side starts yelling and pointing. 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. But there’s no way a human being could be swimming so fast. She was keeping right up with the dolphins. Then she leapt into the air and my heart almost gave out on me. The entire lower half of her was covered with scales and tapered back into a huge fish tail. She jumped once more, then disappeared under the surface.

About an hour later we arrived at the point and we were diving. I was photographing some colorful fish with my underwater camera. Suddenly I felt something brush against my right leg. She shot by me like a streak of lightning, then turned and came back past me, swimming the other way. I just aimed the camera and started snapping pictures. I kept shooting as she broke for the surface and swam away.”

You can see the alleged photos here, but many have pointed out that they could have been easily hoaxed, despite Leicher’s claims that the photos have been studied and authenticated by experts. What do you think? Another photo of an alleged mermaid was taken by free diver Hanno Windisch, who was diving off the quaint coastal village of Ballintoy, in Northern Ireland when he had his odd experience. A report for  Visit Causeway Coasts and Glens reads:

“Hanno initially thought he had spotted a large fish or a seal. However, upon closer inspection, he realised it was a creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish, basking near the rocks. The mermaid, described as having long flowing hair and an iridescent tail, seemed just as curious about Hanno as he was about her. He claims the creature sat on the rocks for approximately five minutes, before dipping back in to the cool waters of the Atlantic. The mermaid reportedly lingered for a few moments, locking eyes with the diving instructor, who is originally from Germany, before diving back into the depths of the sea, leaving behind a trail of shimmering scales. As an SSI Level Two Instructor in Freediving, Hanno tried to follow the mermaid’s path but she was too quick, even for his many years of professional diving.”

You can see Hanno’s photograph here, but it is inconclusive, to say the least. Not all mermaids seem to be beautiful and benevolent. In 2012, work being carried out at the Gokwe dam in Midlands and the Osborne dam in Manicaland, on reservoirs near the towns of Gokwe, Manicaland, and Mutare, in Zimbabwe, was suspended when workers refused to go to work because they claimed to have been terrorized by the mermaids lurking there, which were said to look like pale-skinned humans with black hair and fish tails. The workers were originally supposed to do repairs and install water pumps there but became frightened when some people in the area mysteriously vanished and others reported being attacked or chased by these mer-beings. Things with the stalled project got so bad that the Zimbabwe Water Resources Minister, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, appeared before a parliamentary committee to explain the situation. Nkomo said that white workers had been brought in because they were not as steeped in such lore, but even they claimed to have spotted the creatures and also refused to go back to work. Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo also made arrangements to have tribal chiefs of the area perform rites and rituals to appease the creatures if only to put the workers’ minds at ease.

According to the tribal leaders who were consulted, many lakes and reservoirs of the region are inhabited by mermaids, and dams seem to be a favorite place for them to congregate, although they were said to be typically drawn to larger dams than the ones that had been plagued, such as the huge dam at Lake Kariba, which is a hotbed of such sightings. When faced with the question of whether they thought these creatures really existed, they were unanimous and adamant in their assertion that they do. When asked if the mermaids of Zimbabwe’s lakes were real, one chief Edison Chihota of Mashonaland East said “As a custodian of the traditional I have no doubt. For anyone to dispute this is also disputing him or herself.” For his part, Nkomo was more worried about the fact that the workers refused to come back, and was going through with the rituals merely to dispel fears. He was skeptical that their problems were being caused by literal mermaids, blaming it on a mix of superstition perhaps combined with optical illusions and dangerous water currents. He would say of the matter:

“In Mutare what I think is happening is that there must be a sanction underneath there which creates a hole and the water will actually be swirling violently that if you fell in you will not come out, even if you had an oxygen mask.”

Dangerous currents, or mermaids? Who knows? A rather strange report comes from Reddit user “One-Amphibian-5831,” who says he had his encounter while diving with his family off of the Phi Phi islands, in Thailand. He says of the experience:

“To paint the picture a bit better: at this moment me and my brother were snorkeling in the water right by a floating island, while the others in our group were a bit further away from this island. This island was like a chunk of land that extended downward into the water rather than having a gradual slope. Suddenly our dad called out for us, someone in our group saw a small shark and everyone was gathering around to see it. My brother swam over there, but for some reason I stayed put and kept watching the different fish that were swimming so closely to me.

Then, something caught my attention. There seemed to be smaller caves underwater by the shore, and I saw something slowly coming out of there. It was similar to a human head, facing down towards the bottom of the ocean. I completely froze up and kept staring. The “person” kind of floated out of the cave, never faced up towards the surface, and did it REALLY slowly. Nothing of this person (that I could see) was moving. By this point I could see the back of the head and most of the back. The person had reaaally sparse black hair, slicked down to the scalp. Their skin looked gray, and the spine was extremely pronounced. I was so sure that I was looking at a corpse, and I completely froze up. I couldn’t breathe or move. Time felt like it was standing still. The person kept floating out of the cave, and that’s when I started seeing its tail. The tail was dark gray and looked like a stereotypical mermaid tail. I blinked multiple times convinced I was hallucinating, but I kept seeing it. I’ve never believed in the supernatural, but this thing was only a few meters below me and I could see it so clearly. I felt a sense of danger, I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be seeing this and I was terrified that it would see me and attack me. But the thing never once faced up. Once it was out it swayed to the side and kept a close distance to the island, and disappeared into another cave.

After a few seconds I snapped out of it and quickly swam to my dad and brother. I burst into tears and frantically told them that we had to get back on the boat right away. My dad asked me what happened and I told him what I saw. Obviously, he didn’t believe me, and got furious at me for “lying”. When we got back to the boat I told them again, and stood by the fact that I wasn’t lying. My father told me that he really hoped I was, that it was either a lie or that I was insane and had to be locked up in a mental hospital. I knew how crazy all of this sounded, and honestly I didn’t even believe myself. I decided to tell him that I made it all up. Since that day I’ve tried to convince myself that I made it all up, but I’ve never experienced any hallucinations and I know what I saw. Ive told others, but of course most of them thought I made it up. It’s so insanely frustrating feeling like you’re being gaslit by the entire world, and I truly hope that someone out there believes me.”

Another Reddit user called “mencho 14” also has a bizarre mermaid encounter to relate. At the time he was on a very dangerous dive off of North Sentinel Island, which is part of the Andaman Islands, an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. North Sentinel Island is most famous for its uncontested tribe of vicious natives, but now it can be known as a place where mermaids might exist. The witness says:

“So one day I embarked on a scuba diving adventure off the coast of the The North Sentinel Island it's an unspoiled island renowned for their vibrant marine life and untouched coral reefs. As an experienced diver, I was eager to explore the underwater wonders this remote location had to offer. I descended into the crystal-clear waters, accompanied by the soft sound of my own breathing apparatus. The sunlight pierced the water, creating a dance of light and shadow on the ocean floor. Schools of colorful fish swam by, undisturbed by my presence.

As I ventured deeper, navigating through the intricate coral formations, something unusual caught my eye. Hidden in the shadows of a large, overhanging rock formation was a figure unlike any sea creature I'd ever encountered. At first, I thought it might be a large fish or a sea lion, but as I approached cautiously, the figure became clearer. There, in a small cavern, was what appeared to be a mermaid. She had the upper body of a human, with long, flowing hair that shimmered in the filtered sunlight, and the lower body of a fish, complete with a graceful, iridescent tail. Her skin had a subtle, pearly sheen, and her eyes were a deep, mesmerizing blue, reflecting the ocean itself. I was stunned, my heart racing with a mix of fear and wonder. The mermaid seemed equally surprised to see me. For a moment, we just stared at each other, frozen in time. Then, with a fluid and elegant motion, she swam closer. Her movements were smooth and effortless, a dance of grace and beauty.

She circled around me, her eyes filled with curiosity. Then, she reached out, gently touching my diving suit with her delicate fingers. Her touch was light and cool, sending a shiver through my body. I reached out, too, but as my fingers were about to touch her, she swiftly turned and disappeared into the depths, leaving behind a trail of luminescent bubbles. I surfaced, my mind racing with what I had just experienced. The encounter was brief, but it was profound and life-changing. The mermaid's existence, a being of such extraordinary beauty and grace, challenged everything I knew about the ocean's mysteries.”

What are we to make of such reports as we have looked at here? Of all of the mystery beasts and creatures that have been spotted around the world, mermaids seem to be on the more unlikely range of the spectrum, as they seem to defy everything we know about the natural world, evolution, and the fossil record- things that belong firmly planted in myth and legend. So what were these people seeing? Was it figments of the imagination, some undiscovered species of human, some kind of interdimensional phenomena, or something else entirely? Whatever the case may be, they are certainly odd accounts, and hint at perhaps something more to the ocean's mysteries than we can even imagine.