Tristan da Cunha Archipelago – Southern Atlantic Ocean

January 2022, Subject: Sighting of aquatic hominids – cryptid identified Mermaid

Sighting occurred aboard Crypto-Z vessel 18 minutes ago, approximately 23:42.

We were at rest on a strangely quiet, still sea, the full moon creating a clear field for half a kilometer in all directions. It was a quiet night, warm and balmy. The unusual circumstances—the still nature of the water and the brilliant light of the moon— brought me up to the observation deck with the hope that I might have a chance at seeing the creatures that had eluded us on our 90-day exploration [redacted].

For half an hour I stood watching the water. The moon cast glittering light over every wavelet, giving me the rare ability to track even the smallest creatures as they swam by the ship. During the day, the sun made mermaid observation nearly impossible. Earlier, when the vessel, but this was the only luck we’d had that day. The creatures we had hunted for so long remained elusive.
I was about to give up when I saw something in the distance. At first glance, I believed it to be a seal emerging from the deep. Of course, we all know that seals often look human and can fool even the most careful observer, and so my first reaction was to classify it as a pinnepedia. And yet, there was something that made me believe it could be the very creature I had been hunting.

And so, I took my binoculars and trained them on the figure. I saw instantly that it was no seal. I saw its features plainly in the moonlight. Two wide eyes, full lips, and a long aquiline nose. Its pale skin was distinct in the darkness, and its long red hair blazed as if made of fire. It was, without a doubt, human. But how cold a human come to be in the middle of the ocean? It was impossible. I trained the binoculars on it, and observed that the creature was watching the vessel, curious. Suddenly, it dove below the surface and swam toward the ship, darting below the water and sliding up into the light.

The creature emerged from the ocean, disappeared below the surface, and then emerged again. It was then, as it swam toward the ship, that I saw that the creature was, indeed, what I believed it to be: half human and half fish, the creature we have been desperately hoping to discover, the aquatic hominid known as the mermaid.

As it swam, I observed that the scales were multicolored—green and blue and iridescent orange—or seemed to be in the moonlight. It did not use its arms to swim, but propelled itself forward with its tale, moving at an incredible speed. I also observed that it had strange, shell-like fingernails, and its hair was so tangled as to appear to be tied in ropes. I didn’t move, hoping that it wouldn’t see me, but as it approached the ship, the creature looked up and met my eye.

For thirty seconds, then a full minute, she stared at me. I had a choice. Reach for my camera to document the creature—and risk frightening it away—or remain still, allowing it to study me. Without proof of the creature, all of efforts would be for nothing. And so, despite the risk, I lifted my camera carefully and took a photograph. The sound of the shutter clicking caused the mermaid to flinch. Startled, she sunk below the surface and disappeared.

[end of transmission]

THE AGENCY
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