"The Kaiwi Point Mermaid"

Photo ©1998 Jeff Leicher

Other then century old moldings, no strong evidence of the magical mermaid could be presented. Until, finally on April 12, 1998 a man encountered a real life mermaid and presented evidence. KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII - A dive-boat captain finally captured the half-woman, half-fish on film! Dive master Jeff Leicher, 43, photographed the creature known as the "Kaiwi Point Mermaid", as he and six other divers were exploring the deep ocean floor. Leicher and the other divers had heard of the legend of the mermaid on the beach, but they had not experienced anything like it; until that very second. He and his divers were on the way to the point when they were suddenly being followed by a school of dolphins. Weekly World News’, writer quotes Leicher, “"Suddenly one of the men on the port side starts yelling and pointing.”I couldn't believe what I saw. There, not 10 feet from the bow, was what looked like a nude woman. Then she leapt into the air and my heart almost gave out on me. The entire lower half of her was covered with scales and tapered back into a huge fish tail. "She jumped once more, then disappeared under the surface."” An hour or so later, Leicher arrived at the point and began to dive with the other men. He was taking pictures of some colorful fish with his underwater camera. Suddenly, he felt something brush quickly against his legs. To his surprise it was the mermaid. Thinking on his feet, Leicher quickly began photograph as many pictures as he could. 

Photo ©1998 Jeff Leicher







Weekly World News had Leicher's pictures analyzed by three noted photography labs. All three labs say the photos are genuine and have not been tampered with.





Work Cited:
Hassam.Mysterious Myths About Mermaids.2010.Web.2 December 2010.
<http://hubpages.com/hub/Mysterious-Myths-About-Mermaids>.

Victoria,Ann.World Weekly News: "Image of Half-Women Half-Fish Dazzles Tourists in Hawaii".1981.Web.3 December 2010.http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/new/mermaid.htm.