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...