Karl Banse: The Man Who Made the Case for Mermaids May 1, 2024
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
Just a quick post as we move towards the summer. The podcast goes on with me and Chris recently talking about fairy artifacts, the Philip experiment (‘how to invent a ghost’) and this month ‘spectral evidence: the supernatural in court’. I, meanwhile, am diving into mermaid-lore, a love that started many years ago on this blog. How i used to enjoy mermaid Monday.
In my explorations I ran across this superb, superb academic article that deserves to be better known. In 1990 the prestigious marine biologist, Karl Banse published a piece ‘Mermaids – their biology, culture and demise’ in that esteemed periodical Limnology and Oceanography. I have a back run in one of my French chateaus, I think.
The article makes the case that… Well, let’s break it down.
There were three species of sea-mammals that correspond to the mythical mermaid: Siren sirena – Mediterranean-Lusitanian distribution; Siren indica – restricted to the Atlantic side of the Americas; Siren erythraea – the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Indonesian archipelago.
There were sightings further to the north, particularly in the Atlantic and these were mermaids moving icewards to look for Arctic shells to use as currency in their warmer homes.
The reason that we have not found a real mermaid is that they were wiped out by a plague of jellyfish in the early modern period.
The bibliography is the most extraordinary mix of sobre marine biology and mermaid ficts including The Little Mermaid, naturally in the original Danish. I also liked this sentence: ‘In considering the culture of mermaids two facts of life in the marine realm the lack of fire (hence no pottery or metallurgy) and the absence of fibers suitable for baskertry, clothing, or ropes must be considered…’
Banse was having some fun – an extended version of the paper had been read at a symposium celebrating his sixtieth birthday. I would have loved to have heard the stunned silence. But as a wimpy humanities scholar I confess to wondering, on my first read through, whether KB had simply gone off the deep end and no one had had the courage to tell him so.
As far as real mermaids are concerned I’ve been gathering together all the sightings I can find for the home islands (Britain, Ireland). I have moments where I wonder if there is not something there. I’ve been particularly impressed at the arguments that manatee ended up on the wrong side of the Atlantic from time to time. If anyone knows a marine biologist who is up for some fun, I’d love to share the best eye-witness accounts. drbeachcombing AT gmail DOT com
