Beatrice Caster, age 13, of Kilmarnock, for her question:
How did mermaids originate?
Centuries ago, sailing ships came back from faraway places with many strange tales, some true, some half true and some altogether false.
Sometimes sailors claimed to have seen mermaids, half human, half fish, these lovely creatures were said to sit on sea washed rocks, combing their long green tresses. No one ever caught a mermaid for it was said the shy creatures always dived out of sight when a, ship came near them.
Most of the early mermaid tales came from around the Indian Ocean and in the Red Sea. There are creatures called dugongs in these waters. They enjoy life in shallow harbors, bays and river mouths. Their huge bodies, sometimes nine feet long, taper down to a wide, fishy tail. The dugongs are air. breathing animals and their big heads are often above water. Mrs. Dugong usually has but one baby and nurses him close to her chest, like a human baby, tenderly held in her two arm like flippers.
True, this animal is a long way from being a mermaid. But when the animals were being classified, even the experts were confused about the dugong. The mermaids of ancient Greece were the sirens whose singing lured sailing ships to disaster on the rocks. Linnaeus, who planned the classification and scientific naming of the animals, noted that the dugong was fond of music. It seemed natural then to give him a scientific name which hinted that he was related to the ancient sirens and hence to the mermaids.
The dugong and his relatives are in the order Sirenia. A close relative of the dugong is the manatee, who enjoys life in the shallow waters off the tropical Americas. this bulky mermaid
This bulky mermaid, maybe seven feet long and weighing almost a quarter ton, is quite common off the coast of Florida.He is a very lovable character, though to look at him you would wonder how anyone could possibly mistake him for a lovely mermaid.
The huge face of the manatee lifts out of the water to breathe and sometimes to gather food. If this happens while you are rowing a boat nearby, you will get quite a surprise. The big fade looks somewhat like a pile of old grey rubber tires. There is a large, drooping mouth set off by bristling whiskers. There is a pair of sad eyes, half closed under drooping lids, Chances are, the huge face will breathe out with a loud, wet snort. No, the manatee never won a beauty contest.
Seen face to face, neither the manatee nor the dugong looks at all like a lovely mermaid, Perhaps the sun bathing seals or the playful porpoises look more like mermaids. In any case, we can be sure that the legends of sirens and mermaids grew from some sizable animals seen frolicking in off shore waters. The dugong and the manatee, the seal and the porpoise, however, live in the real world. The mermaid lives only in the world of imagination and is not real at all.