The 2013–2014 viral image of the ‘Mermaid of Kiryat Yam’ in Caribbean social media

Record summary

Mermaid videos and images circulated through Latin American and Caribbean social networks during the 2010s, often detached from their original contexts and presented as evidence of coastal sightings. One recurring reference point was the earlier Kiryat Yam mermaid claim in Israel, which had already been reported as a tourism-linked or unverified story. The lead matters for studying how global supernatural motifs are localized through reposting, translation and coastal identity. Individual videos require forensic verification, and many are staged, edited, misidentified animals or recycled entertainment material.