There are many great unsolved mysteries. The Loch Ness monster, the Bermuda Triangle, Big Foot... but here at Six Ticks we seem to have stumbled upon our own growing mystery - the lesser known Google Mermaid Pegman!
You may recall our post a few months ago that Six Ticks first spotted a mysterious Mermaid Pegman on Google Maps. The sighting was entirely by chance, found by Ian our Director whilst researching for an app project we were working on. He wasn't googling mermaids. Honest...
Since that moment it has become the stuff of legend at Six Ticks. Over many cups of tea we have long hypothesised the meaning of Mermaid Pegman's existence and craved another sighting. It's been an obsession. Our very own 'white whale'.
What the who?
Pegman is that little yellow guy on google maps who helps you place yourself inside the street view by dragging him into the map.
Six Ticks found that if you drag Pegman onto a particular area in Florida, he is transformed into a beautiful mermaid! You can see the mermaid by clicking on the link the 'view larger map' tab below and dragging the yellow Pegman anywhere onto the map.
Finding Pegman
Since our first chance sighting all those months ago we've been searching the high seas (or Google Maps) for other mermaids or monsters, hoping to get a glimpse of mermaid Pegman in another location, or perhaps in another mysterious form.
Little information is available about the mermaid on google and we were starting to lose hope of ever spotting another. We had accepted it was a freak find, an anomaly, never to be explained. We were close to quitting our search and getting another hobby, like bowls, or badminton, or birdwatching.
But then, out of the blue a "beep beep" sounded from the computer. An email alert from an unknown contact. We'd got a bite...
Here be monsters
The email was from a fellow adventurer named Randy:
"Name: Randy
Message: The Google Maps pegman mermaid (or is it merman?) appears if you put him over Hawaii, as well. At least over every part of Oahu and Maui that I've tried. Never been able to figure out why, but yours is the only site I've seen that references the mermaid. Thanks."
Randy you magnificent man you.
We hastily opened Google Maps, dragged the yellow fella into Randy's suggested locations, and sure enough he was again transformed into the beautiful mysterious mermaid. It was a sight to behold! Here, take a look for yourself:
We celebrated! Our search hadn't been in vain! There were other mermaids out there and perhaps even more miraculously, there were other adventurers who shared our unbreakable spirit of endeavour and enquiry. In fact another adventurer called Stephen also got in touch later that week to verify the Hawaii sighting. The search was growing. The case was back on!
And that wasn't the end of it...
A month later another 'beep beep'. An email alert from another mysterious contact. This time from a gentleman named Martin. We held our breath as we hastily opened the email as our hopes were verified.
Martin directed us to a far-off land of which we were unfamiliar. A beach town on the western side of Bali called Kuta. And it was in that tropical paradise Martin had discovered another mermaid Pegman!
We opened the map, dragged Pegman across and sure enough, there she was again:
Yeeeeeeeeeeeees!
Join the search!
The discovery of two more mermaid Pegman's has only fuelled our thirst for knowledge and adventure.
A clear pattern is emerging. Mermaid Pegman prefers a natural habitat of tropical islands and surf. But that's all we know so far; but we are keeping track! See our Mermaid Pegman spotted here
Conspiracy theories are rife. There are so many questions still to be answered. How many are there? Why does she exist? The search for the truth continues and we need your help!
Have you spotted the google mermaid on your travels through the web? Or have you come across that cheeky Pegman in another guise? If so we'd love to hear from you.
Remember the truth is out there.
Are there more Google mermaids? Read our latest blog post and join the search to find out!
