In my first introduction to this class, I was skeptical in regards to how a “mythical” creature such as a mermaid could teach students about the environment. I quickly realized I had underestimated their teachings. Mermaids have shown me how much of an effect humans have on the environment when we ignore its warnings. The Ocean itself – so vast and limitless – contains resources that have sustained human beings since the creation of our kind. Our selfish habits have had negative impacts with not only the Ocean, but also climate, land, and other organisms. Using mermaids as a lens for retrospective thinking, we can see how our choices affect others’ homes. Our actions shape our future. What will become of us if we do not limit our exploitation of Earth’s resources?

Mermaids not only allow us to view the environment in a different way, but they also have shown me how humans form relationships with their environment and people. Mermaids are connected with the water in a way modern humans have forgotten. We first evolved through water, we traveled by water, we are water. It is the mermaids who reminded me and I’m sure many others of our unique history as a people, filled with unique cultures and identities, connected by Ocean. Mermaids represent the unknown, what is yet to be discovered. Their thirst for knowledge and journey, to a world they have never known, is a direct representation of humans seeking out what they cannot possess. Why should we as modern humans claim ownership of an Ocean, when mermaids do not claim ownership of unknown land? 

Mermaids have given me such a strong reflection on human exploitation and the boundaries created by others meant to be restrictive. Why must we abandon our Ocean history for a “superior” form of knowledge? Why do we focus on what we can gain, rather than give respect to what has been provided? How can we, as modern humans, reshape our beliefs and language to allow Ocean back into our everyday lives? What other mermaid history and knowledge is out there, waiting to be taught to modern humans?