By Tim Binnall
A mysterious Fiji Mermaid that has been housed at a museum for over a century was recently examined by a class of radiology students in the hopes of determining how the curiosity was constructed. The odd artifact was reportedly donated to Ohio's Clark County Historical Society back in 1906 by a Navy sailor who had purchased the peculiar item while stationed in Japan. Having heard of the Fiji Mermaid in their collection, nearby Northern Kentucky University came up with the rather clever idea of having their radiology department look at the 'creature' using CT scans and X-rays in the hopes of solving the puzzle of the strange chimera which sports a human-like head and the body of a fish.
Intrigued by the prospect of peering inside the wondrous relic, the historical society agreed to the collaboration and brought the mermaid to the university, where it was subjected to a proverbial battery of tests this past Friday. “We thought it was a really unique opportunity for our students to kind of get hands-on experience," the radiology department's Joseph Cress said to a local media outlet, "this is something unique that they’re not going to be able to do, probably ever again.” Much like patrons at carnivals over a century ago, where the Fiji Mermaid was often a featured attraction, the class was amazed at the sheer strangeness of the oddity. “It's kind of ugly. It kind of looks mummified a little bit,” one student marveled, "I've never seen anything like this before."
As for what was used to creature the 'monster,' Cress indicated that the scans showed something of a surprise. "You think initially it's going to be kind of a monkey and a fish put together," he explained. However, in addition to those two creatures, they actually observed that "down toward the hands it looks to be more amphibious like. So it could be an alligator, lizard of some sort." The analysis also provided a glimpse of some of the materials used to cobble the piece together, including metal, wood, and cotton. The university now plans to send their scans of the mermaid to experts at the Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium with an aim towards identifying exactly which animals were used to fashion the artifact.