Throughout history tales of mermaids have been told and many jaded unbelieving folks have required proof. The alleged proof is in dead mermaid remains, some of which are still on display today. Carnival sideshows often had jarred or stuffed mermaid mummies on display, in addition to the occasional live captured mermaid splashing around in a tank. In recent years there have been many internet hoaxes involving stories of finding mermaid mummies or bones that have washed up on a beach after a storm. Look further for the real story.

The art of creating faux mermaids seems to be a tradition begun by fishermen. I suppose they needed to do something to amuse themselves during the doldrums at sea. Can you picture a drunken sailor coming to town with one of the mummies below? Most seem to have been done by stitching the upper body of a small animal to the body of a fish. I'm sure a colorful story came with each one. Recently artist Juan Canana has resurrected the art by creating outstanding sculptures of creepy mermaid mummies, covering the bodies with fish skins.

Scroll down to see some real mermaid mummies. They are a little creepy, none of them look a bit like Ariel, but don't you just have to take a peek?

This notorious mermaid was linked to an internet news story which quickly became an urban legend. It was reported that this mermaid washed up during the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. However, the picture had been circulated online prior to the tsunami. This is actually a sculpture created by artist Juan Cabana. Many of the modern day internet hoax's of found mermaid mummies were created by Juan (He claims to have created the mermaids...not the hoaxes). He says many of his pictures were stolen from his ebay sales listings, which were then used to create the stories.

According to another internet story, this mermaids body was reportedly found on a Malaysian island.This is yet another sculpture created by artist Juan Cabana.

This one is an antique mermaid mummy preserved at Karukayado Temple outside the city of Hashimoto in Wakayama.

Antique mermaid mummy at Zuiryuji Temple in Osaka. This was a gift to the temple from a Sakai-area trader in 1682.

Antique mermaid mummy housed at the Myouchi Temple in the city of Kashiwazaki in Niigata.

illustration of the"The Feejee Mermaid" displayed by PT Barnum, 1842. When his museum burned down in the 1960's, it is believed that the original mermaid mummy was destroyed with it.


The mermaid mummy in the jar is a replica of the PT Barnum "Feejee Mermaid". The original was believed to have been made by a Japanese fisherman in 1810.