More references ...
“U.S. Government insists that mermaids do not exist”
http://io9.com/5923072/us-government-insists-that-mermaids-do-not-exist?tag=holy-crap-wtf
“NOAA Denies Existence of Mermaids”
http://news.discovery.com/animals/noaa-mermaids-120629.html
Whew! Well, now we can stop worrying about THAT! What a relief!