For all those out there who believe in mermaids and have just been waiting for some concrete evidence, Animal Planet now has it in the form of its latest documentary Mermaids: The New Evidence. The only catch is that it's a hoax.
Animal Planet rolled out a "mokudocumentary" last year titled Mermaids: The Body Found which reeled in the networks highest audience viewers since Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's death in 2006. Now, the latest installment in these mermaid hoax documentary style shows drew in 3.6 million viewers, the channel's largest audience ever, according to ABC News.
"We wanted people to approach the story with a sense of possibility and a sense of wonder," Charlie Foley, the show's executive producer, told ABC News. "Hopefully that's what 'Mermaids' allowed viewers to do . . . allowed them to suspend their disbelief."
The original installment had viewers so convinced that mermaids existed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had to release an official statement debunking their existence.
"The belief in mermaids may have arisen at the very dawn of our species," the statement read. "But are mermaids real? 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."
Both Animal Planet's specials on the mermaid hoax are about mermaids living in the Greenland Sea. They imply government cover-up of mermaids and a spin-off site that claims it's been confiscated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
"The phenomenon of 'Mermaids' has truly been a watershed - and a watercooler - moment for Animal Planet," said Animal Planet president Marjorie Kaplan. "These extraordinary television specials have electrified, challenged and entertained television audiences and online fans alike."
