Many cultures consider cormorants a symbol of nobility and indulgence. In more recent history, the cormorant is considered a good luck charm for fishermen, or a talisman that will bring a fisherman a bountiful catch. In China and Japan, humans once exploited the fishing skills of the cormorant by tying a snare to the bird’s throat and sending it to sea. The snare prevented the bird from swallowing fish, and when the bird returned to the fisherman’s boat, the fisherman removed the fish and kept it. Some specific stories of cormorants in literature include • In the Greek tale of Ulysses, after a storm broke the mast of Ulysses’ raft, a sea nymph disguised herself as a cormorant and handed Ulysses a girdle to keep him afloat while he swam to shore. • In Norwegian myths and folklore, three cormorants flying together are said to be carrying messages and warnings from the dead. In northern Norway, cormorants are considered to be good luck when they gather in a village. Norwegian myth also st