FIRST-EVER PHOTOS OF A MERMAID!

Image Of Half-Woman Half-Fish Dazzles Tourists In Hawaii!
by Ann Victoria/Weekly World News 

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII - For more than 50 years, people have reported seeing a mermaid off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island. But the sightings were never taken seriously -- until a dive-boat captain finally captured the half-woman, half-fish on film!

Dive master Jeff Leicher, 43, photographed the creature known as the "Kaiwi Point Mermaid" on April 12, 1998, as he and six other divers were exploring the ocean bottom about 20 minutes off Hawaii's sunny Kona coast. 

  Leicher points to the spot where he photographed the mermaid.

 "I'd heard about her before," says Leicher, who operates Jack's Diving Locker. "Most of us who are out in these waters regularly have heard stories. But I'd never seen her until that morning.

"We were on our way out to the point when a school of dolphins started following the boat, playing in our wake. Suddenly one of the men on the port side starts yelling and pointing.

"I couldn't believe what I saw. There, not 10 feet from the bow, was what looked like a nude woman.

"She had long flowing hair and one of the most beautiful faces I've ever seen.

  Image of mermaid was captured on film as she swam above divers exploring the ocean bottom on April 12. Photo ©1998 Jeff Leicher

"But there's no way a human being could be swimming so fast. She was keeping right up with the dolphins.

"Then she leapt into the air and my heart almost gave out on me. The entire lower half of her was covered with scales and tapered back into a huge fish tail.

"She jumped once more, then disappeared under the surface."

All 10 people on the boat witnessed the bizarre incident. But there was another incredible surprise still ahead.

"About an hour later we arrived at the point and we were diving. I was photographing some colorful fish with my underwater camera.

"Suddenly I felt something brush against my right leg. She shot by me like a streak of lightning, then turned and came back past me, swimming the other way. I just aimed the camera and started snapping pictures.

"I kept shooting as she broke for the surface and swam away."

Weekly World News had Leicher's pictures analyzed by three noted photography labs. All three say the photos are genuine and have not been tampered with. 

  The photos of the Kaiwi Point mermaid have been studied and authenticated by experts. Photo ©1998 Jeff Leicher

"I feel very lucky that I'm the one to finally prove to the world what people here have known for half a century," says Leicher.

"The Kaiwi Point Mermaid is real."