Lizard People

Reconsidering Mermaids

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Often it’s merely a good line drawing. Cryptozoologist Mark A. Hall passes along a delightful “editorial cartoon” for our consideration in rethinking some issues and comments involved in Merbeing theorizing and debunking. Enjoy! Please click on the image for the full-size cartoon. Thanks to Mia B. Smith, Permissions Coordinator at American Scientist, who informs me the copyright for this cartoon is Bill Long, 2005.

Mark A. Hall: Did Sea Cows Fuel Mermaid Mythology?

Today we have a guest blogger Mark A. Hall* who contributes his thought in “Did sea cows fuel mermaid mythology?” Virginia Smith of the Daytona Beach, Florida News-Journal has raised this issue and consulted experts who take an affirmative view. Perhaps for Christopher Columbus they did. People back to Lt. Fletcher Bassett in 1885 have suggested that what Columbus saw in 1493 “were probably manatee or dugongs.” The log of Captain John Smith, however, told a more detailed story that doesn’t describe a sirenian. His reported log entry in 1614 in the West Indies gives details not given in the [...]