Mermaid Anatomy
I spent almost a decade of my life wanting to be a marine biologist. (It started because the ocean is beautiful and terrifying and I wanted to conquer some of my fear. The reason it lasted so long is that I am prone to obsession and have stubbornness issues.) As a result of spending so long learning about fish and whales, etc. I have developed a major problem with mermaids. Well, merpeople. It's not limited to the females. The issue isn't that they're creatures of legend. No, my issue is that they're supposedly part-fish, but traditionally the way they're anatomically portrayed they would be mammals. If you've ever taken the time to observe differences between marine mammals and fish, there is one very obvious difference that can be noted from a distance. Dolphins, whales, manatees all have tail fins that are horizontal and provide thrust with an up and down movement. Sharks and all other fish have vertical tails th...