

People often ask us what the mermaid is all about in our sightings passes, jokingly remarking that they had seen one of them at sea. Jokes aside, that is actually the thing about mermaids – humans have apparently been seeing them since time immemorial. These mythical creatures decorate the folklores of seafarers – from the sirens of Greek mythology up to fairytales such as “The little Mermaid” by H.C Andersen. In some tales these creatures represent danger, in others they rescue humans from shipwrecks or from drowning. Marine animals such as manatees or, in some areas, even dolphins have been held for mermaids. What all these stories have in common, is the fascination for the mysteries of our oceans – we are in awe of it all , even what we cannot see.
The mermaid pass dominated the day, with weather conditions making finding cetaceans out at sea a real challenge for our crew. At the end of the day, our clients aboard Steno got lucky with a pod of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and we hope todays “mermaid clients” will be lucky to meet the ocean’s non fictional marine mammals in the near future!
By Paula Thake
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 No Sightings
13:00 No Sightings
Steno
09:30 No Sightings
16:30 Bottlenose dolphins