057 – THE BLAIR FISH PROJECT

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, people who made their living by working the sea have reported creatures that appeared to be half-human and half-fish. Some of these stories are legends and fairy tales, but more recent sightings are reported as real animals. Confounding things even more are mummified mermaids brought to Europe from sailors coming back from Asia. A recent Animal Planet “documentary” claimed that mermaids are real and the US government is hiding the truth. This week on MonsterTalk, we interview museum curator (and mermaid-model expert) Paolo Viscardi.

Related Material Mentioned in the Episode

• Scientists reveal secret of how ‘monkey fish’ were made (BBC video)
• CT Scan of the Horniman’s Merman
• Photos of the Horniman’s Merman
• The Media Otter Know Better
• The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History
• (Update 2021: There ended up being two of these fake-umentaries. Both are streaming on Amazon. Both caused confusion and increased the number of people who think mermaids might be real.)

Music

• Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys