Qualenya, the sting ray mermaid of Florida’s Gulf Coast

Qualenya

Long ago there was a boy who lived with his fisherman uncle in Florida. The uncle was very cruel and made the boy clean fish all day long and never let him play with any friends. Then one day the boy was emptying a bucket of fish and he heard a voice say “If you spare me, I will grant you any wish.” It was coming from a sting ray. The boy took the sting ray to the water’s edge where it transformed into a beautiful girl with the wings and tail of a ray. She told him her name was Qualenya, the queen of the sting rays. Before  swimming away she handed him a golden shell with which to call her for his wish. That night his uncle asked the boy to bring the ray inside to prepare for dinner. When the boy told him he had released it, the uncle got very angry. He chased the boy out of the house and down to the shore. The boy took out the golden shell and blew inside it. Immediately, Qualenya appeared and the boy asked her to take him far away. He climbed onto her back and they swam together down the Florida coast, followed by all the other rays. He never saw his cruel uncle or cleaned another fish again. Every year all of the rays in Florida make this same journey to celebrate the boy who saved their queen. 

Arthur Huse's Tampa Dwarf house

At the corner of Wood Street and Newport Avenue sits a compound of three miniature buildings that would stand out on any American street. The ceilings are under 7 feet high, and the buildings are covered in sculptures, carvings and mosaics. The complex was built in 1947 by a man named Arthur Huse. The story behind their whimsical design and miniature scale is lost to history. "Part of the fascination of this compound is its size," Yent said. "The buildings are much smaller in scale than today's standards."

Giant Garib Skeletons from 1920's and the legend of the Giant of Hillsboro Bay

From 1922-1927 there were several news reports of giant Indians roaming Florida swamps 500 years or more, living on shell foods which they cracked with their teeth, were discovered by archaeologists who have excavated a burial ground near Tampa. They are estimated to be at least 500 years old and are remains of a tribe known as Garibs, natives of the West Indies.

There is also an older legend from the early 1800's called the Giant of Hillsboro Bay. In this legend, early Florida settlers called "crackers" are said to have had a conflict with a giant who stole their cattle and killed three of their party members. 

Gerhard Stiller, Tampa's legendary Cat Boat Captain

Gerhard stiller was famous around Tampa for captaining a houseboat he built himself on which he kept hundreds of cats. His boat was often anchored on the mouth of the Hillsborough river between Tampa General and Bayshore Blvd. He died in 1975.