Mermaids: The New Evidence Official

While the storytelling in was convincing enough to break ratings records, the "evidence" it presented was entirely fictional.

The program was a "docufiction" or mockumentary produced by as a sequel to Mermaids: The Body Found . It used a blend of real-world phenomena and fabricated narratives to create a persuasive story: Mermaids: The New Evidence

: It linked the fictional discovery to the "Bloop," a real underwater sound recorded by the NOAA in 1997, which scientists have since attributed to icequakes, not marine life. While the storytelling in was convincing enough to

: Characters like Dr. Paul Robertson, portrayed as whistleblowers, were actually played by actors. : Characters like Dr

: The story was so effective that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was forced to release an official statement clarifying that no evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found .

: The show heavily relied on the Aquatic Ape Theory , a real but controversial evolutionary hypothesis, to provide a sense of "intellectual possibility" for the existence of mermaids.