'All set?!' Shouted Gary the skipper.
Mark gave a thumbs up. They set the hoist and the trawler started coiling the nets with a low rumble. The white horses crashed into the wake creating a grey soup that swirled as the boat rocked. Mark thought of home and dry clothes.
'Stop!' He shouted, leaning over. He'd caught a flash of something. The hoisting paused, silver slithering and flapping, but there was something else. A long tail uncoiled itself, longer than a cod, longer than a tuna.
His mouth dropped open in wonder as the torso shifted, then the arms lifted itself carefully over the suffocating fish.
'What is it?' Gary shouted.
Mark couldn't speak for wonder. The mermaid's dark eyes stared back.