Mermaids Star In Animal Planet's Monster Week 2013 - Do The Mythical Creatures Actually Exist? Skeptics React

Animal Planet has just celebrated its 'Monster Week' and Mermaids were one of the highlights. The week-long television broadcast, starting from May 20 to May 27, was the talk of social media again after it screened a follow up special on last year's hit, Mermaids: The Body Found, entitled Mermaids: The New Evidence.

This year's Mermaid special, which aired last Sunday, May 26, aimed to further strengthen the theory that mermaids exist by offering new proof that the under-the-sea creatures are real. But people were not convinced with the show or the new evidences presented.

The new TV special followed the journey to further mermaid discovery of Dr. Paul Robertson, former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist, and journalist Jon Frankel as they delve deeper into the study of mermaids in an effort to prove that the seas creatures exist.

Following the Aquatic Ape Theory, the research leaders claim that "the humans' ape ancestors once went through an aquatic stage. The show takes this real, but unpopular, scientific theory one step further by claiming that these aquatic apes evolved into mermaids," reported the Examiner.

To strengthen their bid to prove that mermaids are real, Mermaids: The New Evidence also featured video clips of alleged mermaid sightings. The first one was filmed by American tourists in Israel. In the video, a mermaid-like figure takes a dive into the ocean from a rock after allegedly being spotted by humans. Another video shows a half-fish, half-man creature jump out of the water while looking at the camera. In another evidence video, a fish is seen struggling as it is hit by a sphere, however, being very deep into the ocean, the film claims it is impossible for any human to hit the fish with that type of object.

After the program aired on Sunday, social media began to buzz about mermaids and the truth behind them. Some people believed the TV show, some debunked any claims of mermaid sightings and there were also people who made fun of the show, posting images of the cartoon The Little Mermaid as their proof of mermaid existence.

While different people have different takes on this matter, NOAA stood by its principle that these sea creatures are fictitious. In response to the first Mermaid special last year, the office released this statement:

"No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found. Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples? That's a question best left to historians, philosophers, and anthropologists."