Mermaids once had a far wider distribution than today, which stretched from the shores of North-east Brazil and northern West Africa to Newfoundland, the Outer Hebrides , southernmost Sweden and the northern shores of the Mediterranean east to Sardinia. Pollution and industrial fishery with big nets have had an undoubted impact and today they are restricted to the west coast of Scotland (including the Hebrides) and south to Pembrokeshire, round Irish coasts, Brittany and the Bay of Biscay.
One mystery which has thwarted conservation efforts is how they breed, since all observed speciwomens have been adult females, which never appear to be pregnant, and they appear to combine alluring sexual features with an absence of sex organs. It is possible that they lay eggs, which mature into either mermaids or barnacles. The latter then undergo metamorphosis into sailors who appear unnoticed on board ship and mingle with the human sailors, but take any opportunity to fondle a mermaid, which in turn triggers egg formation. | 
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