MERMAID

This mermaid, caught in a net off the coast of Nova Scotia, near the Grand Banks, reminds us that we share our planet with several forms of intelligent life. Mermaids (and the much more rare mermen) seem to be an offshoot of human evolution, and despite their fishlike tails, are mammals (most merpeople have the head, torso, and arms of a human, and a dolphin-like lower body). Normally, found in warm shallow waters, this mermaid was apparently following the Gulf Stream when caught. After being extracted from the net, she was returned to her native waters, none the worse for wear.