January 9 In History, Cristopher Columbus Miscalculated The Sea Cow Is A Mermaid

Manatees or also known as sea ox (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - On January 9, 1493, explorer Christopher Columbus, who was sailing near the Dominican Republic, saw three "mermaids" and described them as "not as beautiful as his painting." The sea ox is an aquatic mammal that looks like a dugong.

Columbus wrote his findings in his journal. But actually, what Columbus saw were manatees or sea oxen.

Citing History, Saturday 9 January, Columbus departed from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean six months earlier, hoping to find a western trade route to Asia. Instead, his voyage, the first of his four voyages, took him to America or the New World.

Mermaids, mythical half female, half fish creatures, have existed in seafaring culture since at least ancient Greece. It is usually depicted as having a head and a female body but having a tail that resembles a fish's tail instead of legs. Mermaids are depicted holding mirrors and frequently combing their hair. Mermaids live in the sea and, according to some legends, can transform into humans and marry men.

In addition, mermaids are closely related to Sirens, another folk folklore. Sirens also have the bodies of half a woman, half bird, who live on the island. Sirens often sing seductive songs to lure sailors to their deaths.

The sailors, who claim to have seen mermaids, most likely saw Steller's manatee or sea cow which went extinct in the 1760s due to over-hunting. Manatees are slow moving and have human-like eyes. Its face is round and its tail is like a paddle

It appears that manatees evolved from their ancestor, the elephant. Three species of manatee (West India, West Africa and Amazon) and one species of dugong belong to the order Sirenia.

Adult manatees are typically 10 to 12 feet long and weigh 800 to 1,200 pounds. They are plant eaters, have a slow metabolism and can survive only in warm water.

Manatees live for an average of 50 to 60 years in the wild and have no natural predators. Manatees are a species that was declared endangered. Many manatees die or are injured every year from being hit by boats.

But in 2017, the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service announced that it would downgrade the West Indian manatee from "endangered" to "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act.

The reclassification marks a remarkable increase in the number of manatees. Manatees were on the brink of extinction when they were first listed as endangered in 1973. Then, only a few hundred manatees remain. Now the number has increased to several thousand in Florida, United States (US).

"While more work remains to be done to fully restore the manatee population, especially in the Caribbean, the number of manatees is increasing and we are actively working with partners to address the threat," said Jim Kurth, the federal agency's managing director, in a statement.