Legend speaks of a mermaid, for lack of a better term, spotted swimming in the waters off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. In 1982, British tourists swimming at Clifton Beach claim to have spotted a woman swimming far off the shore and thought that she may be having trouble getting back to the beach. After alerting authorities, Sea Rescue services were sent out to assist and found her frolicking in the water, they told her that she was too far from shore and that for her own safety they should take her back to the beach as the currents there can be strong. They tried reasoning with her after getting no response, they then considered that perhaps she did’t speak English and was likely a tourist. They approached her in their boat and were going to try to lift her into the boat but has they got close to her, she dove under the water, a large fish tail lifted out of the water after her and splashed the men who were startled and began to panic. Their first thought was that there was a shark in the water that may have grabbed the woman. One of the men bravely jumped overboard and dove under the water to look for her but found nothing. The men who remained in the boat looked up and saw the woman a few meters away looking back at them. Confused they pulled their friend back up into the boat and called out to the woman. As they turned their boat around and started to move towards her she dove under water and this time, they saw her tail more clearly. The men told their superior when they returned to shore who scolded them all for the telling tall tales. They were sent out with more men to find the woman in the water, but nobody was found. No women fitting that description were reported missing either. It wasn’t till 3 years later that she was spotted again. This time she was seen on Duiker Island, a small set of rocks in Hout Bay where the seals like to gather. One of the tour boats circling the island spotted her laying on the rocks in-between the seals. When she saw the boat full of tourists, she pushed herself back into the water and disappeared. Tourists said she looked quite disheveled, with long, brown hair that looked quite dirty and had quite a muscular build for a woman, she was naked and had small breasts. Her facial features couldn’t be seen well enough, but they from the build of her upper body, she looked strong.
After that no sightings were reported until the V&A Waterfront began being developed into more of a tourist attraction and boat tours became more popular and frequent. The mermaid has since been spotted 7 more times by tourists and boat tour operators who say they spotted a muscular woman with the tail of a fish swimming in the waters and showing cautious curiosity towards them, however she always dives under the water and disappears whenever anyone attempts to approach her.
She has said to be no menace to any boats and it is not believed that she is a threat in any way. The obvious question as to whether it is the same creature as seen back in 1982 is uncertain.
Disclaimer: The story of The Mermaid of Good Hope is a work of fiction. While the areas mentioned are real locations, the events and characters depicted in this story are entirely fictional.