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Culture Kids

Culture Kids

The Mermaid Mystery: Did People Really See Mermaids? A True History Adventure for Kids

Jul 31, 2026 · 16m

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About this episode

Grab your imaginary passports, Culture Kids! In this episode, Kristen, Asher, and Arden hop aboard the Culture Train time machine to investigate one of history's most enduring legends: mermaids. Are they pure myth, or did real people really believe they saw one? The adventure begins over 2,300 years ago in the ancient city of Hierapolis, in what is now northern Syria, home to a sacred temple dedicated to the goddess Atargatis, widely considered one of the oldest mermaid-like figures in recorded history. From there, the Culture Train jumps nearly 1,800 years forward to 1493, landing aboard Christopher Columbus's ship in the Caribbean Sea, where Columbus famously recorded seeing three…