Over at Slate this week, marine biologist David Shiffman addresses the mermaid conundrum. Why, you may ask?
Policy solutions can help, but if you are so ignorant about what is really happening in the ocean that you believe that there are organisms that are half human and half fish, you’re almost certainly unaware of the important problems, much less how to solve them. Even if you don’t believe in mythical creatures, you may be unaware of the severity of the crises facing our oceans.
For those requiring additional persuasion, NOAA launches this harpoon:
No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found. Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples? That’s a question best left to historians, philosophers, and anthropologists.
So, to confine this myth to a watery grave: Mermaids? Fictional.
Fascinating. Alluring. Highly cinematic. But fictional.
So glad, after all these years, to finally clear that up.
Kent Jones