19 February, 1921. A cyclone approached the Houtman Abrolhos Islands with gale force winds and fierce swell that would demolish jetties and boats alike.
Four fishing boats huddled off Rat Island for the night, anchored and chained securely against the storm. For the Columbia, it wasn’t enough.
The Columbia’s mooring chains broke before dawn and she drifted, threatening to overturn in the waves. The waves won, throwing the two men aboard into the water. One was the skipper, Felice Miragliotta. The other was Giuseppe Benvenuto, his mate. Felice tried to swim a line ashore to save his mate but lost sight of him in the waves as the current dragged the rope from his hand.
No one ever saw Giuseppe alive again.
No one except Sirena, a mermaid in Ocean's Gift…
You’ll never look at mermaids the same way again.