(From left) Tyler Daniels, Cas Wells, Rye Edwards, Wil Rademaker, Evan Pierce, Quinn Connelly, and Catherine Etter (Photo by Isabella Cantillano-Sanchez)
By Isabella Cantillano-Sanchez
Due to its storied history, New England feels especially haunted by creatures of legend. Cape Cod, with its wide variety of natural environments and proximity to the ocean, invites even more possibilities for mythical encounters. Cape Cod Cryptids, a club at Cape Cod Community College, seeks to investigate local folklore and discover what this land has to offer beyond the natural. As club president, I was especially excited for this most recent expedition: a search for mermaids in the Cape Cod Canal. Stories of these ethereal beings luring men to their deaths captivated me as a young girl, and I always dreamed of encountering a mermaid on one of my many trips to the beach. Alas, I never did. This expedition would provide me with the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream, even if I had to do so in below freezing temperatures. Club advisor Professor Tyler Daniels and Professor Catherine Etter served as chaperones for the trip, with Etter monitoring home base while we embarked on our walk along the canal. Etter, a science professor at Cape Cod Community College, remarked that the mermaids had likely migrated to Florida in search of warmer waters. Still, the club remained optimistic that we could make a discovery. We set off with a walkie-talkie that would allow us to communicate with Etter, a magnifying glass, and binoculars wielded by club member Rye Edwards.
Mysterious ripples in the water (Photo by Isabella Cantillano-Sanchez)
Most of what we encountered on our expedition was expected: seagulls, ducks, lobster traps, and husks of crabs discarded by birds. However, club member Lili Marion volunteered to sing in an attempt to attract mermaids. We stopped at various intervals and Marion stood on the bank of the canal to sing. At the first interval, Marion’s singing appeared to have the desired effect: mysterious ripples began appearing in the water. These ripples seemed to follow us for the duration of our walk and increased whenever the singing started again. We stayed close together throughout the expedition, as stragglers could fall victim to the siren song of a mermaid that decided to break the surface and lure one of us to our deaths.
Ripples in the water at sunset (Photo by Isabella Cantillano-Sanchez)
The ripples certainly suggest that we attracted mermaids that decided to lurk beneath the surface of the water. When the club reconvened to discuss our findings, we decided that this was the best proof we could hope to get. Mermaids are notoriously elusive, so the likelihood of capturing one on camera feels like an impossibility. I look forward to our next expedition and, until then, will be on the lookout for anything strange and unusual out in nature. For more photos and footage of the expedition, you can visit the club’s Instagram page here. To hear an audio recording of this expedition, you can tune into Professor Tyler Daniels’ podcast “Manic Mondays” here.
