Simply Nal: Mermaids: The New Evidence - A Mockumentary aired in Animal Planet?

mermaids: the new evidence

Ever saw that mermaid documentary on Animal Planet or seen those videos of mermaid sitings in Greenland Sea? Well, its in Animal Planet's follow-up documentary on Mermaids: The Body Found entitled Mermaids: The New Evidence. Wow, talk about exciting reality shows. Apparently, the most viewed Animal Planet broadcast is fictitious. Yes, it is a fictitious documentary that we call mockumentary. Here's the article:

'Mermaids New Evidence' Animal Planet Hoax? Fake Documentary Sparks Twitter Debate & Breaks Record Ratings (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

By Sonya Magett, EnStarz | May 30, 2013 11:28 AM EDT

Animal Planet's latest mockumentary, Mermaids: The New Evidence, raised so many questions over the existence of the mythical creatures that a statement had to be released saying that "no evidence" of these creatures has ever been found.

Animal Planet played a re-broadcast of Mermaids: New Evidence on May 26. An actor played biologist Dr. Paul Robertspon in the new "mockumentary" which is a follow-up to last year's Mermaids: The Body Found. He claimed in the new faux documentary that he and his staff have found "new evidence" to support the claims that mermaids exist in the Greenland Seas. The television special fooled more viewers than the first.

The special cleverly touted they had an "exclusive interview" with Dr. Robertson and said a spin-off website was created for viewers. However, due to a government coverup, it is no longer available because the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security had taken it down.

The "documentary" ended up being the network's most-watched program in its history with a record-breaking 3.6 million viewers, according to Entertainment Weekly.

So many viewers believed that it was real that a statement was released to debunk the claims that mermaids exist. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website reads: "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found."

Charlie Foley is the creator, writer and executive producer of Mermaids: New Evidence. He also serves as senior vice president of development for Animal Planet. Foley told the Mother Nature Network that he wanted people to think it was real, which is why the special was made to look like a documentary.

He wanted the story to "appeal to a sense of genuine possibility" so he incorporated "real science and evolutionary theory and real-world scientific examples."

"Using a straight, documentarian approach made the story more persuasive by appealing more to a sense of intellectual possibility as well as emotional possibility," he explained. "I think the story works because it's possible to believe that mermaids might have an evolutionary basis; I think it works because you can believe they are real."

And here are some of the comments made that caught my attention.

arl87 • 9 days ago

It shows the complete contempt and sense of superiority with which those in the major media view their audience. I knew several gullible souls who questioned their sanity after watching this insult. I saw a small part of this and realized that, whatever the purpose, it was clearly ridiculous. But the audacity of a network such as Animal Planet, to abuse their viewers with this kind of tripe only shows how desperately we need to ween ourselves from the destructive influence of television.

Regan Sedd • 8 days ago

Well guess I DO believe in them they are just hiding the truth and telling everyone around the world that they're is NO SUCH THING S MERMAIDS but wait!!!!! THERE IS!!!!! PEACE OUT!

andrai • 16 days ago

They never called it a mocumentary, the were showing "evidence," they said. In reality, they have lost all credibility because they decided to fool everybody. They cannot come out and say it was their intention to show a mocumentary. From the get go, they lied, and now they are trying to cover it up by calling the whole thing a joke. A joke and a hoax are two different things. Shame on you!

RoseLeigh • 5 days ago
I admit, I believed it. Not necessarily this specific documentary since this one was just a "what if" type show, but after this they had another documentary showing the deep sea footage of the hand on the submarine. And I'm a very skeptical, logical kind of person. I'm not really one to believe in something like mermaids without scientific proof. So I'm watching a documentary special on what I thought was a reputable channel. They bring in not only one, but several scientists. Why would I for a single moment even think that this really wasn't a documentary? Next time I watch a documentary on lions should I be thinking omg this is all fake, the lions caught on camera killing other animals is all CGI, and the "zoologists" they interview are really just actors? None of it is real. So back to the mermaids....I'm given a plausible story of body parts found in a shark being tested. Ocean geographers and not one, but several video footage, and a supposed ban from Greenland on oil drilling in the ocean where the footage was taken. People actually take notice. Like, almost 4 million people sit up and take notice. Now all of a sudden it's just a "mockumentary"? We lied to everyone. Scientists were actors, video was fake, stories made up, haha just a joke, go about your business, nothing more to see. Really? Nobody in the board meeting happen to mention that if we tell ppl someone is a scientist and they believe it, we lose total credibility if they find out we just lied about it?

Code Hacker • 2 days ago

I want to be mad, but what can I say pretty much all the tv stations do this, cable or not. They all lie, all reality shows are lies, sure in real life they can die, but so what
so can I and anyone else, thats called life. But in reality its just
better to believe whatcha what. Because Animal Planet they lie, ever see
lost tapes, same thing. Same reason I dont care for those movies that
say there based on real life events, maybe they are maybe there not but
most of the them its all bs anyways. What bit of truth is in there is
small, have to find it like a needle in a haystack. Example, those Paranormal Activity Movies.
Making it like they were based on true storys like that of blair witch
project, only to find out was bunch of made up stuff. My thing is this,
don't get your facts off what they say on tv or from movies.

If you do you're setting yourself up!

All these tv channels/networks care about is money and viewership, not
about the facts or the truth. You can say there are exceptions to the
rule on that from time to time, channel to channel, but 99% of the time
its those 2 things they care about!

kdeh2 • 2 days ago

I would think that Animal Planet would think before it acts....how many viewers will or have lost their trust in the info they produce to the public? I for one have lost mine.

Michael Morals • a month ago

Believe it or not, the facts presented in the so called mockumentary as they call it is real, In Africa we have seen mermaids, some of them come ashore, and live amongst us, some even have children who are living amongst us, you may not believe it, it may sound like a fable tale, but its true, mermi water as we call them do exist, and they have very advanced technology and science, many people go to the water world to seek power and wealth...

Chicago Mike • a month ago

The fact so many people thought this was real is a very bad omen for the future of our country. We are a bunch of morons who have not been taught and critical thinking skills. Pretty sad

Al Cob • a month ago

This is more evidence of a government cover-up! If this
Mermaid series is the most watched series in Animal Planet History why would anyone
from that Network come out on National television and rebuke the findings
(THINK ABOUT IT). This is a business first and foremost. We all know
professional wrestling is fake however you don’t see Vince Mcmmahon or any executivecome out before WrestleMania and call wrestling a fake. What I find troublingis that the “executive producer” come out at the height of the series success andcalls it a fake. You think he would juice that network “cash cow” to the veryend and may be a few years later then call it a fake. Furthermore why didn’t Dr.
Paul Robertspon or the kids that found the body come out and call themselves actors(show us their Actor Guild Card). The young men who saw the Mermaid on the beach have them come out and call it a fake. However they got the “executive
producer” to come out at the HEIGHT of the show success to trash his own
production and hard work. None of this makes sense; no pun intended something
smells fishy.

I believe this is another example of Big Brother at work
attempting to discredit actual science. The only question is, why? We have recently
found new species of other mammals and some of them had barely made the front
page news.

Let’s stretch the mind a little:

a)
Could it be they know that we are a decedent of
this aquatic life form that eventually moved to land?

b)
Could these new species be much more intelligent
than we think and knows a lot of our government dirty nasty secrets.

c)
May be this life form isn’t that new and is
linked to higher intelligence (extraterrestrial) of which the government has
been keeping secret for many years. Therefore if their existence were uncovered
so would the other secrets.

All of this has cover-up written
all over….

Here's some response to the reply above

Danul Al Cob • a month ago

First of all- it wasn't intended to be taken seriously. It's a mockumentary, they're designed to have something to laugh at, or to give intrigue to the audience. not to convince people it's real.

Second of all- if they were real, and come to the surface like that, we would've found them long ago. The only way they could exist is if they live super deep under the ocean. And they wouldn't look like CGI.

GoldenEagle Al Cob • 18 days ago

ur abc's i think are really bad except for the last one but theres still a fluke in that one.
a) why would they care it would be interesting to know if we were a decendent of mermaids.
b) why would mermaids ever know that and why would the government ever think that unless they've talked with one.
c) it was ok until u said it would reveal the other secrets.

and that one person might not have liked how everyone was going crazy about that and put a end to it.

Funny, how despite Animal Planet claiming its not the truth some are still hard-pressed on saying that there is clearly a government conspiracy going on. But then as pointed out, its a free world where everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Albeit all these, the reality remains that Mermaids: The New Evidence and Mermaid: The Body Found are both nothing but genius work of art with a dash of science created to entertain us. If you firmly believed the documentary and all those supposed video evidence then I'm sorry to burst your bubble but it did clearly states in both video's credit that its a fictional film as shown below. They even have a list of cast that clearly shows the roles were being played by someone else.

Mermaid the new evidence hoax

They are in fact authentic docufiction that its even stated so in IMBD (Mermaids: The Body Found (2011) and Mermaids: The New Evidence (2013)). What more is that the actor playing the lead scientist Dr. Paul, Andre Weideman, is a South African actor that not only has his profile in IMDB but also in TVSA. And if you're still skeptical, here's a video of an interview (I suppose) in Stem van God and a film he was in, The Bone Snatcher.

Whether fiction or not, this film is definitely intelligently written and thought of that they even created a spin-off website and the so-called evidence was spread online. Its so compelling and the fact that its broadcasted in Animal Planet would make anyone, whether you admit it or not, somehow believe that its all facts and no myths. But the fact still remains that its nothing but fiction made to be taken with a sense of possibility.

Its kind of funny because I first heard of this Greenland Sea mermaid sitings of some unknown scientists from someone and based on what was said it was a true video evidence. I did believe it too because of how the video was said to be caught. Also, with all those government conspiracy theory being injected to it it just made it more interesting and believable, I guess. What I didn't know at that time was the show being aired in Animal Planet.

Anyways, upon closely watching both films, I did notice something a bit off with those evidence but can't exactly point it out. The only reason why I had this inkling is because I have a background with 3D creative animation also known as CGI. If I didn't I might not notice anything as well. If an amateur like me did notice something wrong with it then I'm pretty sure that a professional will also see right through it and might even pinpoint what exactly is wrong with it. In 3D creative animation you learn to create anything from 2D to 3D and eventually add realistic elements. Adding this realistic elements is actually the easiest part. The hardest is making of the character itself and moving it.

As for all those theories and so-called facts, I really believed them. I'm not a scientist nor am I a science wiz, so sadly I eat up whatever those so-called scientist said.

Therefore, the only people who are possibly not fooled by these videos are the 3D animators and marine biologists. Aside from them, I doubt that people truly, 100% without a shadow-of-a-doubt, thought it was a hoax.

This truth is what made it harder to accept that not all so-called documentaries in highly recognized reality channels are reality. Being a lover of archeological documentaries, it's quite disappointing to learn that these television channels might sometimes be mocking me. One who loves knowledge and who's interested in a topic will always absorb what is being presented to them if they find the source credible. And for years, I thought reputable channels such as this are all about solid facts.

But then again, there is another important lesson here that we seem to overlook. And that is to pay attention. No matter how many times we scold Animal Planet, there is always the fact that they did disclaimed in their credit that it is fictional.

Below is the full video of both Mermaid broadcast by Animal Planet.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/4pJ0oBLYlu4]

[youtube=http://youtu.be/OVhYo41FOY8]

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