No mysterious sea creature or shokoy was washed ashore in Surigao Del Sur after the Dec. 2 earthquake, contrary to the claim of a viral social media post.
In Philippine mythology, shokoy, also spelled as siyokoy, is the male equivalent of a mermaid and has scaly skin and webbed limbs.
Three pictures of the supposedly dead shokoy posted on Dec. 4 by Facebook user Agusan Del Norte Spotted were originally found on the website of Juan Cabana, an artist known for his artworks of mysterious creatures and mermaids.
Agusan Del Norte Spotted said in the text accompanying the pictures that the weird occurrence indicates two subsequent earthquakes in Mindanao were in the offing.
The caption reads:
Breaking news: human sa kusog na linog na nasinati sa Mindanao ug mga creepy na disco karon lain napod na nilalang ang nakita sa kadagatan sa Surigao del sur mao kini iyang hulagway patay na shokoy. Pagka lain raba sa hitsura ani sumala pa sa report na samtang ni hubas ang dagat nitunga kini ug nagpa daplin hinongdan sa iyang kamatayon kini na mga pang hitabo karon. Sumala pa sa mga katigulangan naa kini buot pasabot na epikto kini sa sunod x2 na pang hitabo sa linog sa Mindanao.. Sa karon dobling pag amping ug pag ampo ang kinahanglan karon na panahon para sa atong kaligtasan (Breaking news: After the strong earthquake experienced in Mindanao and eerie occurrences, another creature was found in the ocean in Surigao del Sur. Here is a picture of it, deceased. It appeared different from usual. Reports said that the creature came to the shore as the sea receded and eventually, ended up on the edge. According to ancestral beliefs, this occurrence signifies a potential impact from the next two earthquakes in Mindanao. Double caution and prayers are needed for our safety)...
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur on Dec. 2, prompting
the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology to issue a tsunami warning. It canceled the warning the following day.
A report by DC News shows a picture of Cabana with his artwork.
His mermaids are often pieced together using paper-mache, fish parts, the body of an infant orangutan and a monkey head.
The first fiction mermaid creature created was known as the “Fiji Mermaid” and was supposedly photographed by a Japanese fisherman and taken to China, according to a Snopes article.
Since then, artists have remade modern replicas of the Fiji mermaid, being used as exhibits in museums, carnivals or sideshows in traveling circuses and offered for sale in online auctions.
As of writing, the Facebook post has garnered about 10,000 likes, 6,000 comments and 68,000 shares. The Facebook account was created in July 2022 and has 7,500 followers. (KM)