Paper short abstract:

Our study aims to understand how the encounter of Portuguese with a mythic species occurred - the aquatic mammal manatee - by analysing the knowledge transfer from local people and the level of that cultural encounter, including the perceptions towards the species and its economic value.

Paper long abstract:

At the light of the Portuguese Expansion in the South Atlantic, the knowledge about a New World has undoubtedly constituted a strong stimulus not only to see the world in a new geographical and cultural dimension, but also - in describing the novelty, exoticism, beauty and strangeness of nature - to appreciate its value as an economical source. A mythic creature, the aquatic mammal manatee (Trichechus inunguis Natterer 1883), is an outstanding example, present in several references with different nomenclatures, between the fear and the exploitation. Our aim was to understand how the discovery of a new species implies a cultural and knowledge transfer and what is the level and depth of that cultural encounter. In our study, we collected information from travel literature books, letters from missionaries and Portuguese explorers, chronicles, scientific treaties, illustrated broadsheets, leaflets and images of new and exotic elements in naturalist records, sailors' reports on marine creatures, folklore sources and literature. We analysed local myths and first perceptions, descriptions of its anatomy and behaviour, culinary usage, and fishing methods both locally and during voyages, by the eyes of Portuguese navigators, chroniclers, traders, missionaries, officials, soldiers and scholars. We divided the collected information in four "type of data" based on the content - descriptions, travel relations, fisheries and relation with human cultures. Our preliminary conclusions point to a connection and overlap of the different type of information, exalting the knowledge transfer among local people and the Portuguese, and an overture to experience a different culture.