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| - Fact Check: Know the real story behind this not so little 'mermaid on Mangalore beach'
A video of a woman's lower half covered in fish scales is going viral on social media, with the claim that a mermaid was spotted on Mangalore beach. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) probes the truth.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is clipped from a film made on ocean conservation by a Sri Lanka-based YouTube channel in June 2021.
All of us have heard lores of mermaids — half human and half fish aquatic creatures — and have longed to see one. But what if you’re told that one of them was actually seen in India itself? That’s exactly what some social media users believe!
A video of what looks like a woman with her lower half covered in fish scales is circulating on social media with the claim that a mermaid was spotted on Mangalore beach. The ‘mermaid’, strangled with ropes and garbage, can be seen growling on the sand even as a couple of young men try to rescue her.
Real #mermaid in #Karnataka #Manglaore #Beach @publictvnews @tv9kannada @AshishSinghLIVE pic.twitter.com/somFbWIpNA — Country First (@_Netaji) October 20, 2021
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the video to be misleading. The viral clipping is part of a longer awareness video on sea conservation shot in Sri Lanka.
The post is also circulating on Facebook and YouTube. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA probe
Listening closely to the video, we noticed that the language spoken by the people was not Kannada but Sinhala. We shared the clipping with some local reporters in Mangalore who confirmed that no such incident was reported in the district and the language does not match with the one spoken in Mangalore.
A further search revealed a longer version of the same video uploaded on June 7, 2021, on a verified YouTube channel called Trip Pisso based out of Sri Lanka. “Real Mermaid caught in Sri Lanka,” reads the caption of the video titled ‘Scream of the Mermaid’.
Around 5:59 seconds into the video, the woman is seen throwing mud at the camera and the screen changes to messages about conserving the ocean and consequences of dumping garbage into it.
“Every second breath you take comes from the ocean. Today is the day of the mother who gives life to the whole world. Yes, 8th of June. Today is World Ocean Day. Let’s protect the ocean that gives us oxygen. Let’s fight against ocean pollution,” reads the text on the screen.
At 6:35 seconds, the frame again shifts to the beach, but the ‘mermaid’ is missing. The man who’d removed the strangulations picks up a bag of garbage and walks alone through the shore.
The credit section of the video says it was conceptualised and directed by Udaya Hewagama, who is also the co-founder of Trip Pisso.
AFWA contacted Trip Pisso, whose chief marketing manager Hashan Madushka told us, “We normally post videos of lesser-known natural wonders on our channel. On World Ocean Day this year, we thought of doing something unique. That’s when X-Press Pearl, a cargo ship carrying chemicals, caught fire off the Sri Lankan coast causing environmental disaster. The incident inspired us to raise awareness on ocean conservation, and the idea of mermaid came up.”
We also found a behind-the-scenes video of the short film on the Facebook page of Trip Pisso.
A synopsis about the film was also posted by Udaya on his Facebook page on June 8. In this post, Udaya says the film was made on World Ocean Day to spread a message on the importance of sea conservation.
Hence, it is clear that the viral video is of an awareness film made in Sri Lanka on nature conservation, and not of a mermaid spotted on Mangalore beach.
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