Mermaid legends exist in nearly every coastal culture on Earth, from ancient Greek myths about beautiful sirens to old Caribbean stories about sea spirits. The classic mermaid is described as half human and half fish, sometimes friendly to sailors and sometimes deadly. So why would so many cultures invent the same idea?
One popular explanation involves manatees - giant slow-moving sea cows that live in warm shallow waters. Manatees can grow up to 13 feet long. They lift their heads above the surface to breathe, and they hold their babies in their arms while floating. From a distance, on a hazy day, a manatee at the water’s surface can look surprisingly human-shaped.
Christopher Columbus actually wrote about spotting “three mermaids” off the coast of Haiti in 1493. He grumbled in his journal that they were “not half as beautiful as they are painted.” Most historians think he was looking at three manatees. So the global mermaid legend may have started with shortsighted sailors and friendly sea cows.
