Seaborn Series

You have a fever, chills and your throat feels like you swallowed glass shards. We are blessed to live in a world where effective antibiotics are easy to get a hold of. But what will happen in the future? Antibiotic resistant bacteria are on the rise. The drugs that used to work quickly and efficiently are becoming ineffective. Over the last 25 years half of the drugs developed came from natural organisms. Now we are needing to find a new source of chemical weapons to fight new resistant bacteria. That source could be found deep under the sea by underwater vents. These chemosynthetic organisms have developed completely different ways of getting energy from their environment without the sun. This new source of natural products is being evaluated for antibacterial characteristics that could help humans. Who knows, the next time you recover from an illness, it might be thanks to your friends deep under the sea! Check out this NOAA article for more info: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/e...

Do mermaids really exist? Or did many different cultures develop similar stories of these half-human creatures of the sea? One of the legends of mermaids comes from Japan. The word Ningyo means "human fish" and is often translated as mermaid. In ancient history this creature was described as having the face of a monkey and the body of a fish. The voice was described as like a skylark or a flute. It was supposed to be bad luck to catch a ningyo as it would cause storms and misfortunes ironically however, anyone who ate the flesh of the fish would have eternal youth.  In Indonesia there is a legend of Nayai Roro Kidul, the Queen of the Southern Sea. This goddess had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. She could take the soul of anyone she wished for. She is said to take the lives of fishermen and those who bathed on the beach and she preferred handsome young men. Who could blame her? For another fun story about handsome mermen visit Seabornseries.com.

The beautiful Florida Keys is the setting for the book Athlanmara: Seaborn Series Book 1. After all if you were a mermaid or merman isn't this where you'd want to be? The Florida Keys were "discovered" in 1513 by Ponce de Leon. The word "Key" comes from the Spanish word cayo meaning small island. The only residents of the Keys for centuries were the native Calusa and mainland tribes and of course the pirates! It wasn't until 1892 that the U.S. Navy finally chased away the pirates and settlers began to trickle down from the mainland. The Florida Keys have provided many products over the years, from pineapple to shark skin, cigars to sponges. The famous Overseas Highway was built in 1938 but it wasn't until the 1950's that the Florida Keys found it's true gold mine in tourism. Today over 3 million tourists visit the Keys every year and for good reason. With crystal blue waters and balmy breezes, the Florida Keys is a magical place where anyt...

Everyone loves a great mermaid movie! Here are three of my top picks for best mermaid movies, with a few honorable mentions. I'm a child of the 80's so of course my number one pick is the iconic movie Splash with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah. This movie is a sweet love story that loosely follows the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale where the mermaid has only a limited time on land. Both the main actors are well cast, Tom Hanks is his usual lovable self, and the movie has a strong comedic supporting cast with John Candy and Eugene Levy. My second favorite mermaid movie is Aquamarine. I know this is a silly kids take on the mermaid legend but the characters are so well played by Emma Roberts, JoJo and Sarah Paxton that you can't help but love them. My favorite scene in this movie is when Aqua the mermaid is trying to call the local hunk Ray. When he actually answers the phone she screams and throws the phone out the window. I laugh every time, it is so right on! My third ...

Most mermaid costumes are a variation of the fish tail skirt and bikini top. You can decorate your top with beads or shells and don't forget to add some sort of headdress or seashell crown. The skirt can be more complicated if you sew it yourself or you can make it super simple by just wrapping some shiny material around your waist and pinning it. For a great story about mermaids and mermen visit Seabornseries.com! Another variation of the mermaid costume is the couples costume. Here is a lucky fisherman that caught a beautiful mermaid. Or how about the tough warrior mermaid? This mermaid looks like she's ready for anything! Here is a tip for your mermaid costume. You can apply some shiny makeup through a fish net stocking to get the illusion of scales. And last but not least, how about being the mermaid villain? They always seem to have more fun! However you decide to celebrate Halloween, be safe and have fun being a mermaid! Let's be mermaids!

In the young adult novel Athlanmara, the Athlanmarans can survive at great depths in the sea by magic but Sperm whales are the real life deep divers. Sperm whales are one of the largest of the whales. They have been known to dive as deep as a mile under the surface and stay down for 2 hours at a time. The whales eat many kinds of squid and fish including the Giant and Colossal Squid. The Sperm whale has many biological adaptations to deal with the intense pressures deep under the surface of the ocean. One problem with the intense pressures is that air cavities inside of their bodies, like sinuses and the middle ear, could explode. Sperm whales have lots of blood vessels in these cavities and when they dive the vessels fill up displacing the air. Another problem with diving deep is the air in their lungs. The whales have a collapsible rib cage to get air away from their aveoli. This also prevents nitrogen from entering their blood stream which would give them the bends w...

Mermaid legends in the Mediterranean come from Greek mythology. The Greek god Poseidon was half man, half fish. He was the protector of seafarers. Mermaids on the other hand were called sirens and were considered dangerous. With their enchanting songs they lured sailors to their death on the rocks. In many ancient Greek art pieces the sirens are depicted as half bird, half woman. The legends eventually evolved into a half fish, half woman. In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses longs to hear the sirens song. He orders his men to stop their ears with wax and tie him to the mast. He tells them not to let him free no matter what he says. Though he hears the sirens song and begs to go to them, his men keep their word and don’t set him free. (photo "Ulysses and the Sirens" by H.J. Draper) Check out the website Seabornseries.com to find out more about the latest mermaid legend, Athlanmara: Seaborn Series Book 1!

In almost every ancient culture there are legends of mermaids. The tales call the half human, half fish creatures by different names but there are striking similarities between the stories. In Scotland they are known as selkies. The legend depicts creatures that are seal shape in the water but then remove their skins to reveal their beautiful human form. If a human can steal the selkies seal skin while they are in human form the selkie will be their bride. These tales usually end in tragedy as the selkie still longs for the sea and if she finds her seal skin she will return to the sea never to be seen again. Go check out the website Seabornseries.com. The young adult novel Athlanmara: Seaborn Series Book 1 tells of a new mermaid legend.