How did you first get interested in mermaids?

[Mermaid Crystal]

I got into mermaids by the show H20 and wondered how to make a tail like the show! How about you?

[*Celine*]

I saw "The Little Mermaid" and since then I watched it everyday until that tape was completely worn out :-p, then my mom made me a hot pink fabric tail when I was 8 and I completely destroyed that one to because of wearing it everyday, all day

[Ophelia]

I like being pretty and I hate real life :lol:

[Mermaid Celissa]

I had an interest in them since I was a toddler. I kind of grew out of it when I was about eight, then got interested again at ten. My dad's always like, "Are you looking at more mermaid junk?" whenever I get on eBay at all because it's true.

[Estarriol]

Came across some Sea Elves in a wonderful fantasy series called Dragonlance, which isn't a great leap from liking mermaids. I was about 12/13 then. Most recently I saw this figure and wanted to paint one: http://www.coolminiornot.com/227082.

[Mermaid Crystal]

LOL but cool stories I thought someone would say the movie splash or something else !

[Ayla of Duluth]

The Clorox Commercial

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I was always interested in things that nobody believed in, like mermaids, fairies, ...

[Angel the Little Merman]

Clearly for me it was Ariel from the Little Mermaid, my first movie as a kid and right then and there I was amazed by the sight of them and then on I got into mermaid and anything underwater. I know this has been said before many times by fans but what can I say it's the truth.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Am I the only one who was freaked out by the little mermaid instead of being fascinated by it? All I can think of is the ship blowing up and Eric nearly drowning and the scary sea witch being stabbed in the stomach with a giant piece of wood and the music was less than enthralling, etc.

[Mermaid Celissa]

^^ Don't forget the suggestive sexual movements from Ursula, and the fact that according to the fairy tale, a mermaid can go to the surface when she is sixteen. All of the movie happened around the same time frame, so Ariel married when she was only sixteen.

[Angel the Little Merman]

Am I the only one who was freaked out by the little mermaid instead of being fascinated by it? All I can think of is the ship blowing up and Eric nearly drowning and the scary sea witch being stabbed in the stomach with a giant piece of wood and the music was less than enthralling, etc.

Wow I never think about those scenes to be scary, I do admit the transformation with Ursula laughing like a psycho freak me out a little as a kid.

[Merman Dan]

I was always interested in things that nobody believed in, like mermaids, fairies, ...

Having personally seen the fey folk, I completely understand. I am ever mindful of the things that "one almost sees out of the corner of one's eye". Once you are attuned to that, anything is possible.

[happyguava]

For me it's been a constant thing since I was about 2 years old. I think the Disney TLM movie was the starting point. As a child I wore my mermaid costume everywhere, at one point even deciding that as mermaids can't walk, I should either and began dragging myself around the house on my hands. At 5 I had a plan that I was going to work in a special mermaid enclosure at the zoo (I wish!!) and fool everyone into thinking I was real.

In terms of actual mermaiding - a few years ago I had a random dream out of the blue where I was playing Ariel in TLM (I'm a singer/actress as well) and swam about in a costume tail. I woke up, found mer yuku, bought a monofin and the rest is history :)

[Mizuko]

I've always loved the ocean ^_^ Although, I almost drowned when I was a baby and for a few years was terrified of water until my Auntie -eh hem, politely- made me swim again. haha! And since that day, mum and dad would say I spent more time under the surface than on top! hehe! I owned so many mermaid books, my favourite still being 'The Mermaid Princess', the artwork drew me into that world and I was hooked ^_^ Anything to do with mermaids I loved; commercials, movies, magazine adds. But I guess I chose to become a mermaid because it felt like a natural progression.

[spottedcatfish]

I've always loved mermaids... Growing up as a child I wasn't as into them as I am now. I was into mermaids, faeries, all kind of fantasy. Then, at the age of 10 or 11 I discovered that I didn't just like mermaids and merfolk, I loved them! It's kind of been that way for me, ever since then. I also grew up close to the ocean and had a lot of opportunities to go to the beach and swimming. So this is kind of a merge of the two, mermaids and swimming. :-)

[Alveric]

I saw my first mermaid when I was eleven, during a family trip to Florida. I thought they were neat from then on. It was only when one appeared in a short story I wrote two years ago that I finally became fascinated.

[Merman_Ryan]

#1
http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/08_11/1984/88161/l_88161_c7e08d11.jpg

#2 The mermaids of the VHS film Mermaid Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QU5QgRlA4Q

#3 Mermaid Garnette of Foxmoon Productions.
http://th05.deviantart.net/fs15/PRE/f/2007/071/7/b/Master_Mermaid_Garnette__by_FoxmoonMerfolk.jpg

[seagirls626]

I've always love mermaids. When I was little, my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid, but then the interest kinda faded until I become obsessed with the show H2o Just Add Water. :D

[Sea Pearl]

For me I think it started when I was round about 4 or 5, that's when I first saw The Little Mermaid, and it quickly became one of my favorite films and brought about my fascination for mermaids. And growing up I lived around a community if small villages by the coast where people would always tell mer folk stories. And they still do when ever I go back home to visit :) I used to love playing around the rock pools by the shore and hope to catch a glimpse of one.

[Mermaid Saphira]

I have always been interested in fantastical creatures since I could remember. I also really like the idea of being something that isn't real, something magical :)

[telzey.amberdon]

I like to see my wife being dressed up in classy and different ways, so I got her a tail. She looked wonderful as usual. Then I thought; why should she have all the fun. So I got one for myself. Now I'm trying to figure all the ins and out of being merpeople.

[Fortuna]

I got bored of life, even though I'm only fourteen years old. But actually it all begun with me not being good in drawing legs so I made mermaidfins instead :D By now I'm able to draw anything I like but when I was small that always made it easy for me. Woman torso and mermaid fluke ^^

[Nate Walis]

I have often told the tale of how I became interested in mermaids, but one more time won't hurt. I think that it began when I was about seven and saw Spalsh! (apologies if the actual title does not have the excalmation mark) for the first time. There was just something so different and intriguing about the idea of the creature that this seemingly normal woman became when immersed in water. From there mermaids became a kind of secretive obsession for me and I was seemingly forever trying to see the film again and catch anything else of a similar nature. The Little Mermaid seemed to have less of an effect on me, but I was always trying to find the episode of Bewitched where the character of Sabrina is turned into a mermaid by a bitter former lover. From then on I was particularly interested in the idea of women who became mermaids either by accident or design, a concept that still interests me to this day and is the frequent subject of many stories I have written as a result.

[Elle]

the movie Splash. Daryl Hannah in the bathtub! I was convinced that if i got into my bath with my clothes on I'd turn into a mermaid. So my mum let me and guess what? I didn't turn into a mermaid. Apparently I cried for a good few hours after that, but I guess that's what happens when your 4 :)

[Shivice]

Having an older sister who is also loves everything fantasy. By having her around when I was growing up I was always watching her play Final Fantasy games and Spyro. Then my mom bought me the Little Mermaid II video game, after seeing how much I loved the movie. By being submersed in fantasy and always loving the water, it just felt like I belonged in the water. My sisters and I would always play mermaids when we would go swimming. I am a mermaid through and though.

[Cordelia]

I have loved fantasy and myths since before I even knew what those words meant. I have a book called The Encyclopedia of Mythical Creatures. I loved reading and rereading the passages in the book, especially the Nixi, Selkie, and Mermaid entries. When I was much younger, I would also ask my grandma to read the book to me, too! With all of the drownings and people eaters in the book, it is surprising to me now that she would always fullfill my request.

I was only 4 when Splash came to theaters, so I was probably 6 or 7 by the time I actually watched it on television. Let me tell you, it totally knocked the Rainbow Brite movie out of my number one top favorite movie of all time! :P I think I thought it was so awsome, because obviously Daryl Hannah was a real mermaid; at least, in my mini mind she was. :D For some reason, my favorite part was the lobster/dinner scene. I thought it was hilarious that she ate right through the shell!

If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said that I wanted to be a mermaid. As I grew up, I never really thought of that as a viable career option until I found out that it actually could be! I am definitely glad that I never grew out of my "mermaid-phase". For the time being, I mermaid recreationally. I'm not really sure if it will get farther than that, because I have other ambitions. I knit (a lot) and write when I am not subbing or tutoring.

[MerMarla]

I’ve always loved science fiction and fantasy. Back in the early 1960's, I started reading Azamov and Bradbury as soon as I could, with a dictionary at my side. My favorite all time Fantasy writer, Anne McCaffery (of Dragon Riders of Pern fame, recently passed away as did Bradbury). I have loved many writers since these years. And more mermaid novels than ever before! Just awesome!

Before I could walk, I was splashing in the back yard wading pool, or in the chilly waters of Lake Huron, Michigan. Mom thought for sure I was part fish! In the early 1960’s my folks would take my sister and I to Florida, to visit our grandparents. Every year we’d go to Weeki Wachee Springs and watch the Mermaid shows. My former baby sitter, Trudy, was working there, and told me if we ever moved down, to come take a swimming test. Little did I realize that someday that would happen, just not between my junior and senior year of high school! I was so ticked at my folks for not letting me graduate with my childhood friends, that I drove to the only place I had a friend... Weeki Wachee (the Saturday after registering for HS there)! I had brought my swim suit, and found Trudy. She took me into the mermaid villa, had me change into my suit, while she spoke to the “powers-that-be”. Trudy, knew from my background, that I had spent two years swimming on the HS synchronized swim team! My test was flawless, knowing most of the surface moves, I passed with flying colors, and was hired on the spot. It was the Fall of 1969 that I became an official Mermaid! Where else could your find mermaids? We were it, in the whole world!

My training took 4 days, learning to breathe on an air hose and master the tail, props, scuba tanks, and other choreographed movements to music for the shows. I learned from the best! Much later in my career, I broke a deep dive breath holding record (diving to approx 80 feet in a tail), then having the air hose pulled up, and holding my breathe for 4 min-12secs arising with the current and performed back dolphins, during a show. Since then my record has been broken there several times over. Holding your breath is easy when you are not expending energy, like laying on a tank floor. We also had to swim against a 1st degree outflow spring, the head waters to the Weeki Wachee River, and its current. I swam for over 2 1/2 years, one hour shows 3 times a day, sometimes 4, six days a week year round. We also swam night shows (what a hoot that was!) Night lights and bubbles! It was awesome! The Spring is a constant 72 degree, and crystal clear to the 120 foot bottom where the cave (spring outflow) starts. Yep, it was chilly at the end of the day, now they call it hypothermia!

Just this last July, I attended the 65th anniversary reunion at Weeki Wachee Springs, Fl., now a State Park. It was a great time to visit my MerSisters, seven of which are still performing there, as Former Mermaids, they are my MerSisters from 1969 thru 1972. It was so wonderful to swim again in my “Home” spring! They almost couldn’t pull us out of the water, we all wanted to stay for as long as we could, thunderstorms and lightning, notwithstanding!

Weeki Wachee also sponsors Mermaid camp! If you want more info go to:
Http://weekiwachee.com/camps/sirens-of-the-deep-mermaid-camp.html

Be safe, learn to scuba dive or free dive from licensed experts, always have a spotter when you swim in a tail, and enjoy the experience!

Bubble-hearts to all,
Mermaid Marla (the original one!)

"Once a Mermaid, always a Mermaid"

[MerKat]

As long as I can remember I have loves Pirates and Mermaids. There is no one event or media item that inspired me. Even as a child when I was taking swim lessons, the instructors would comment that I could swim better with my feet/legs together that the traditional flutter kick! I would pretend to be a mermaid whenever we were near water! Only in last few years have have my 2 daughters and I planned on making our own tails... this past summer, my younger daughter and I made our tails and quickly became know as the Pine Lake Mermaids.

[angie]

I have always loved myths, magic, fantasy, ect. I also started synchronized swimming in 5t grade. When I finally stopped last year, I was heartbroken. Then, I admittedly caught mer-fever from my friend MermaidPandora. It seemed like the perfect resolution of all my interests, including crafting/costuming. I feel like if I cant do synchro anymore, I can still do awesome stuff in the water. It all comes together and points to mermaiding!