When all else fails, a cheeky bit of eugenics will go a long way, said no one ever.

People are trying really, really hard to justify why Ariel from The Little Mermaid should be played by a white actress.

This comes after an announcement that singer and actress Halle Bailey, who is of African American descent, has won the role, with many arguing that the mythological fish-person should remain “authentic” to the original aesthetic – that is a white mermaid with red hair.

As those arguments have been exhausted and proven invalid for multiple reasons, outlined in a previous indy100 article, some people have turned to science.

Mermaid science.

Yes, according to science, mermaids are white because they live under water and have less melanin, which means a lighter skin colour.

One Twitter user wrote:

My opinion on why mermaids are white is that they live so deep underwater that sunlight hardly reaches them, thus the lack of melanin. It doesn't matter what ocean they're from cos they could've been migrating seasonally like fishes. But maybe im thinking too much.

Other Very Science-y People™ hopped on the theory.

And developed it.

Another studious Twitter user chimed in with Proper Social Theory™.​

People are trying to come to grips with these new academic ideas.

A student of medicine cleared up the details about melanin production.

But mostly, people are done with the veiled racism.

FYI...

Also, mermaids aren’t exclusive to European mythological history. Here's just one example: Yemaya is a Yoruba deity, also known as the goddess of the Oceans and owner of the seas. According to Yoruba beliefs, she is the mother of all living things. Yemoja, an Orisha (another deity) is another water deity that can be referred to in English as "daughter of a great fish".