On the ninth of January, 1493, explorer Christopher Columbus
was sailing near what is now the Dominican Republic. In his ship’s journal, he
recorded he’d sighted three mermaids. Columbus described them as being “not
half as beautiful as they are painted.” Mermaids have been a part of sea-faring
lore since the time of the ancient Greeks. They were usually depicted as half
woman, half fish. Supposedly, they were irresistibly lovely. They would comb
their long hair and sing in such a way that they could lure innocent sailors to
their deaths. Maybe Columbus had heard so much of these fantastic creatures he actually expected to find them. We do tend to see what we expect to see,
whether it’s there or not. Most historians assume what Columbus mistook for
mermaids were really three manatees. Sea cows, as they’re sometimes called, do live in the warm waters of the Dominican Republic. And they do actually fit Columbus’ disappointed
description.
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