The Israel Hayom newspaper reports that the Kiryat Yam City call-in-center has been receiving several weird calls over the past few weeks all from local residents claiming they have seen a mermaid on the Kiryat Yam beach.

Shlomo Cohen, a former IDF carreer soldier, was one of the first to have claimed to have seen the mermaid some two weeks ago. "I was with friends when suddenly we saw a woman laying on the sand in a weird way. At first I thought she was just another sunbather but when we approached she jumped into the water and disappeared. We were all in shock because we saw she had a tail. At least five of us saw it and we all couldn't believe it."

The city of Kiryat Yam is offering a prize of one milion dollars to whoever can get a picture of the "mermaid".