Story:
My recent discovery of a dead mermaid found washed up on the shores of Gators Pass located at west central coast of Florida. My emotional outburst and crude language forced me to add music otherwise I would not be able to post. The mermaid has been sent to Australia for further scientific study.
Other Versions
A Dead Mermaid Found Washed Up on the Shores of Gators, Florida.
Analysis:
The video circulating online since at least 3 years claims to show a real, dead mermaid that was supposedly found washed up on the shores of Gators Pass at west central coast of Florida. The description that comes with the video also says that the mermaid has been sent to Australia for further scientific study. It is not so!
About the Video
The video was originally shared on YouTube in Dec 2010 by user TampaDarkMetal, who has several other videos in his channel showing performances of various music artists.
Like it often happens, the recording of the mermaid sighting is as if it was discovered by a coincidence while shooting at the beach. The creature’s hair does not look real; it appears more like a wig. Even the body does not appear like that of a dead creature that lives in water – it looks more of a mummified body, or a doll made of some kind of material like plastic. Also in the video, the newspaper print article titled ‘Now you see the truth..Mermaids DO EXIST!‘ appears like fake. The dead mermaid supposedly discovered in Florida is in fact fake — it is an art work of Juan Cabana.
The Art Work of Juan Cabana
Juan Cabana is a Tampa Bay taxidermy artist who blends the corpses of dead animals together and creates many unimaginable and controversial taxidermy sculptures like mermaids, sea monsters and aliens, some of which he also offers for sale online.
As a part of his Oceanic Art, Juan Cabana has created the ‘Mermaid’ creature in question that he shared on his website in Aquatic Gallery. The description of the gallery says:
“Welcome to the aquatic art gallery of Juan Cabana. These mixed media creations span from the year 2001 to our present time. Each one of these assemblages incorporates the use of authentic fish skin, fins and teeth..”
The present piece of taxidermy art is titled as ‘Valisna 2012’ and is certainly made of fish skin, fins and teeth. In his website and the second video, you can watch some of his Mermaid art works that are often used online to fabricate interesting hoax stories like the present one. The video claiming to show a dead mermaid supposedly discovered in Florida is a hoax; the creature is a taxidermy art of Juan Cabana. In related stories section below, you can find few other similar claims in the past.
Facebook Scam
After this story and video of mermaid sighting became popular online, a viral Facebook posting titled “Dead Mermaid Discovered in Florida” surfaced lately. It is a Facebook “like” scam and does not have any video showing real mermaid.
The Facebook scam comes with attention grabbing titles and will attempt to trick the user into “liking” and sharing the post, because that is how the scam spreads further. Note that such posts may also install malicious applications, so be careful when you are clicking any such unbelievable stories.
If you have fallen victim for this scam, you can remove the Facebook activity from your profile, and if you have installed any apps, you can remove them from the Apps Section of your Facebook Account Settings by clicking the “X” on the right side of the application.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
Related Stories:
Dead Mermaid at Balambangan Island – Video
Mermaid Caught on Tape Swimming in Sydney
References:
Dead Mermaid Discovered in Gators Pass, Florida is a Facebook Scam
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