The Mermaids of Tiburon

The Mermaids of Tiburon is a 1962 movie featuring several mermaids.

In 1964 the film was altered, cutting most of the mermaid footage, and adding some closeup shots of naked women swimming, the movie was also renamed to Aqua Sex. In 1967, Most of the cut mermaid footage ended up being used in the TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" season 3, episode 19, titled "The Mermaid". There, Diane Webber reprised her role as a mermaid using the same tail, and shot some extra scenes in a submarine. The same tail was also used in 1965, by Marta Kristen in Beach Blanket Bingo.

Plot
A marine biologist Dr. Samuel Jamison is asked to find out by Ernst Steinhauer if there are more "flame pearls". The one was found in the coastal waters of Tiburón. Jamison agrees to meet Steinhauer there, but the man has gone missing. Jamison decides to proceed alone, and hires a charter boat. However Steinhauer has been murdered by gangster Milo Sangster who has caught wind of an underwater treasure, and he tails Jamison to the sea.

While diving at Tiburón, Jamison encounters a group of mermaids lead by Mermaid Queen. They taunt him, but when he indicates that he means no harm, he is shown a way to their grotto. The grotto is filled with giant clams, which is the source of the "flame pearls".

At the surface, Milo is starting to throw dynamites into the water in an attempt to kill Jamison. Jamison is stunned by the blast, but manages to surface. Seeing Milo and his minion Pepe diving, Jamison decides to board their ship. He is soon found by Milo and Pepe, and knocked unconscious. Pepe tries to prevent Milo from killing Jamison, but is thrown overboard by him, where he is killed by a shark. In the meantime Jamison has recovered and tussles with Milo. In a struggle a flare lands near the dynamite cache, and the ship explodes. Jamison is saved by the mermaids, and Milo escapes on a raft.

Milo is persistent on getting the pears, and invades the mermaid grotto, even shooting one of them with a speargun. The mermaids lure him into a rock crevice where he gets stuck and runs out of the oxygen.

Jamison makes to the dry land thanks to the mermaids. Now knowing that mermaids exist, he is inspired to return one day.

Links
Mermaids of Tiburon page on IMDB