# Mermaids



## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 14, 2008)

Well, not mermaids, but manatees, an amazing part of God's creation:

[video=youtube;2k-YrzOgQAk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k-YrzOgQAk[/video]


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## FrielWatcher (Sep 14, 2008)

I was fishing in the causeways of Florida many years back - out by Cocoa. A manatee came right by the rocky shore, about three feet away from me and it scared the ever-loving pants off me. I really didn't expect it. They are HUGE beasts. 

Yes, they are an amazing creature and it makes you really inquire into the mind of God during creation. Thanks Andrew.


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## Seb (Sep 14, 2008)

FrielWatcher said:


> I was fishing in the causeways of Florida many years back - out by Cocoa. A manatee came right by the rocky shore, about three feet away from me and it scared the ever-loving pants off me. I really didn't expect it. They are HUGE beasts.





I live in Manatee County, FL. During certain times of the year you can see manatees around here quite often. 

They will scare the living daylights out of you when you're wade-fishing. It's that "hurt yourself trying to get away" kind of scare. 

They are beautiful creatures though and since they're also called sea-cows, I've often wondered what one of them would taste like.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Sep 14, 2008)

Has anyone eaten them? Or are they just really big Carp?


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## FrielWatcher (Sep 14, 2008)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> Has anyone eaten them? Or are they just really big Carp?



Not a carp, not a fish.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Sep 14, 2008)

I know they are not fish, asking if they were edible...


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## Seb (Sep 14, 2008)

They are vegetarian mammals. 

I think after you cleaned all the blubber off, they might be tasty.

Of course it'd probably be your last meal outside of a Federal Penitentiary. 

I wonder if the Seminole Indians ate them? If they had them near Louisiana we could find out if they were good, because I know those Cajun / Creole type of folks would give them a try. Filleted and blackened


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 30, 2008)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> I know they are not fish, asking if they were edible...



Yes, they are. Historically, they were hunted for food. But they are "endangered" now, according to federal law, and thus it is illegal to hunt them.


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## Blue Tick (Oct 2, 2008)

*Russian fishermen catch Mermaid alien and eat it*

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tfTMjYsS-U]YouTube - Russian fishermen catch Mermaid alien and eat it[/ame]


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## satz (Oct 2, 2008)

I love manatees.


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## a mere housewife (Oct 2, 2008)

This is from a journal entry about my recent trip (quite a significant outing; and I went alone; also significant  to the zoo in Cincinnati, while Ruben was in training. The manatees:

They looked like the people on childrens' programs dressed up as awkwardly enormous, fumbling animals intent on being harmless and dear. They were slowly eating romaine lettuce with their flippery paws, shoving it at their enormous mouths and heaving their bulk around in pursuit of it when it got away. It is amazing how many people overlooked them entirely and then swore on suddenly seeing them revolving round the lettuce right in front of us (indeed they were the focal purpose of the exhibit). I am not sure on what principle such oversight operates: perhaps we've trained our eyes to detect speed? Two teenage boys, dyed hair, mohawks, etc, walked up beside me, commenting on everything else in sight. I knew what was coming and waited. Not in vain. Suddenly one of them swore, and almost jumped. 'What is _that_?' It was indeed, right next to him. The other read off that it was a 'Man-uh-tee'. But the first was uncertain; he didn't think that could be right; it wasn't a manatee: that huge unidentified floating object looked like a--what do you call it? a seahorse. I couldn't help it. I giggled. He immediately took it back, so I politely volunteered, to cover my faux pas, that the name they were looking for was a sea_cow_: upon which he asserted that yes, that's what it was; _not_ a manatee.


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## biggandyy (Oct 2, 2008)

Seb said:


> FrielWatcher said:
> 
> 
> > I've often wondered what one of them would taste like.
> ...


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 9, 2008)

Officials Concerned About Wayward Manatee - Local News Story - WCVB Boston (October 9, 2008)


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## Semper Fidelis (Oct 9, 2008)

Mer-man Andrew.







MER-MAN!


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## Semper Fidelis (Oct 9, 2008)

biggandyy said:


> FrielWatcher said:
> 
> 
> > I've often wondered what one of them would taste like.
> ...



No. They taste like Spotted Owl.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 9, 2008)




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## Barnpreacher (Oct 9, 2008)

Had the pleasure of seeing several manatees while fishing down in Naples, FL about 15 years ago.


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## turmeric (Oct 9, 2008)

Oh, the huge manatee!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 9, 2008)

With apologies to Joyce Kilmer...

*Ode to a Manatee*

I think that I shall never see
A mermaid as lovely as she

"What?" you say, "It is a sea-cow,"
Aye, in this age we live in now

Long ago, lonely sailors saw
A creature they beheld with awe

In night watches her siren song
Beckoned to men away so long

Blubber, whiskers, wrinkles and all
On dancing waves she did enthral

Nowadays those loving eyes
Blind to faults which we despise

See ugliness and sin abound
Where once was beauty to be found

See them slip just under the waves
Ripples alone now mark their graves

But like the fool who wrote this poem
Mermaids are finding their way home

-- Andrew Myers, written October 9, 2008


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## Seb (Oct 9, 2008)

That's good.

You are one surprisingly multi-faceted guy Andrew.


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## staythecourse (Oct 9, 2008)




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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 10, 2008)

It's a just little doodle, but thanks guys.


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## Semper Fidelis (Oct 10, 2008)

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> It's a just little doodle, but thanks guys.



You and I should team up for a puppet show sometime!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 10, 2008)

Semper Fidelis said:


> VirginiaHuguenot said:
> 
> 
> > It's a just little doodle, but thanks guys.
> ...



Thanks, Rich. That's not my forte, but your puppet show is excellent, brother. Blessings!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 11, 2008)

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> Officials Concerned About Wayward Manatee - Local News Story - WCVB Boston (October 9, 2008)



Lost manatee headed to Fla. after Mass. rescue - Yahoo! News (October 11, 2008)


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