Asia

The origins of a bizarre creature that resides in a Japanese temple are being studied. While the so-called mermaid is worshipped as such, a folklorist suspects this is another P. T. Barnum special. Mermaids: The Body Found was a wildly successful 2012 mockumentary television program presented as a factual documentary on American TV channels Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. Telling the story of a faux-scientific team's investigation into the idea that mermaids are real, millions of people tuned into this show representing Animal Planet's largest audiences ever. Now, a 300-year-old mummified “mermaid” is making headlines in Japan. The bizarre looking 12-inch (30.48 cm) creature was ‘caught’ between 1736 and 1741 in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku