On January 9, 1493, explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near what is now the Dominican Republic, recorded in his ship’s journal that, on the previous day, he saw three “mermaids.” It turns out they were Manatees, the herbivorous sea mammal sometimes called a “Sea Cow.”
Can you imagine what Mrs. Columbus must have looked like if Chris was checking out floating gray blobs?
I guess we should cut him some slack. He had been at sea for quite a long time! And he did “Discover America!” Hmmm, more about that bologna another time!