Animal Planet showcases 'Mermaids: The Body Found'

Based on real events and scientific theory, the two-hour special science fiction show will air on September 22 at 8 pm

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 12, 2012

Once upon a time, there lived a little mermaid in an underwater kingdom. She ventured to surface, longing to communicate with people on land…. this is a fairy-tale told and retold to children everywhere; it's a beloved story about a legendary creature that's described in the mythologies of nearly every human culture in history. People across all continents who've had no communications with other societies have described the same half-man, half-fish anomaly –they've spoken about the same mythic animal.

What if there's a kernel of truth that lives beneath the legend of the mythic mermaid? Now, in 'Mermaids: The Body Found', premiering Saturday, 22 September at 8 pm, Animal Planet details the first-hand accounts of a team of government scientists who testify to have found the remains of a never-before-identified sea creature with ties to human origins. In a story about evolutionary possibility grounded in scientific theory, experts reveal the natural history of mermaids and show us what they looked like, how they lived and how they could have evolved but remained hidden... until now.

'Mermaids: The Body Found' will air on Animal Planet on Saturday, 22nd September at 8 pm and will repeat on 23rd September at 9 pm.

In the programme, spectacular CGI animates a world where mermaids really do swim below the water's surface, cooperatively hunt with dolphins and may continue to survive in an intricate society where they stay hidden in fear of their earthbound relatives. Stunning computer animation, eyewitness video and photographic evidence shows viewers what the mermaid looks like, and questions are raised about whether the government is involved in a massive cover-up, hiding information about the possible survival of these creatures and if they exist today. While coastal flooding millions of years ago turned some of our ancestors inland, is it possible that one group of our ancestors didn't retreat from water but rather went in deeper? Could they have ventured farther into sea out of necessity and to find food? The Aquatic Ape Theory makes it possible to believe that while we evolved into terrestrial humans, our aquatic relatives turned into something strangely similar to the fabled mermaid. As evidence that humans once evolved into aquatic creatures, the Aquatic Ape Theory cites some of the striking differences between man and other primates and the many features we share with marine mammals, including the following:

• Webbing between fingers (Other primates don't have this.)

• Subcutaneous fat (insulating from cold water)

• Control over breath (Humans can hold breath up to 20 minutes, longer than any other terrestrial animal.)

• Loss of body hair (Hair creates drag in water.)

• Instinctive ability to swim (Human babies are able to do this.)

• A highly developed brain, which depends on nutrients provided by seafood

'Mermaids: The Body Found' makes a strong case for the existence of the mermaid, a creature with a surprisingly human evolutionary history, whose ancestral branch splits off from a shared human root. The film is science fiction, using science as a springboard into imagination and centering the story on the following real-world events:

In the early 1990s, the US Navy began a series of covert sonar tests, which were linked to mass die-offs of whales, which washed up on beaches throughout the world. For years, the Navy denied they were responsible for these beachings.

In 1997, scientists at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded a mysterious sound (called “The Bloop”) in the deep Pacific, which was thought to be organic in nature. It has never been identified.

'Mermaids: The Body Found' is a story that imagines how these real-world phenomena may be related. In this story, startling amateur video and photographic evidence, as well as additional audio recordings, suggests whales weren't the only creatures affected by the Navy's sonar. The film follows the two scientists who tracked the whale beachings for years and delivers first-hand, on-camera accounts of what they claim to have discovered in the aftermath of one particular beaching. Their story is nothing less than fantastical: they claim to have found the remains of a mermaid.

With compiled amateur footage, including photos and video shot by deep-sea fishermen that never have been shown in the US, as well as cinema-quality CGI, 'Mermaids: The Body Found' argues how a mythical creature – one of humankind's most enduring legends – may be real. It depicts how mermaids may have evolved from the early human family tree and persisted into the present day.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com