London, Aug 12 : Israel is in the grips of “mermaid fever” after the local authorities were deluged by reported sightings of the mythical sea creature.

The town council of Kirvat Yam, near Haifa, is taking the reports so seriously that it has stumped up a 1-million-dollar reward for anyone who can prove the creature''s existence with a photograph.

"Many people are telling us they are sure they''ve seen a mermaid and they are all independent of each other," council spokesman Natti Zilberman told Sky News.

According to media reports, the nautical nymph is only seen in the evening at sunset.

"People say it is half girl, half fish, jumping like a dolphin. It does all kinds of tricks then disappears," Zilberman said.

Asked whether a dolphin or large fish could be a more rational explanation, he insisted: "They say it is a female figure, it looks like a young girl."(ANI)