#(( yes they look weird and maybe are a furby but the merfolk have pair bonded now

[royalreef]

(( Merfolk protective/adoptive instincts are so strong, that if something looks Baby Enough and sounds Baby Enough, merfolk will have an instinctual protective response to it.

Which, yes. That includes the children of other species, the adults of other species that give the same Baby Cues, wild animals, and inanimate objects. It’s very easy to end up accidentally adopted by a community of merfolk who all went ‘guess we’re your parents now!’