Mermaid Morgann
08-19-2014, 01:33 PM
Well, hello there! I'm Mermaid Merin, a mermaid of the wonderful Beehive State with a dream to one day live and repair reefs in French Polynesia.
So now, I little about myself? I'm a young adult and college student studying to be a filmmaker and getting a second major in Marine Biology. I have been deeply fascinated with mermaids and marine life ever since I was a wee one and discovered The Little Mermaid. I'm a biased ginger and Ariel became my favorite princess, which coupled with my obsessiveness about swimming, only caused me to grow a deeper love for the undersea world.
I came about getting my first silicone tail ordered (which is due to arrive here in approximately two weeks!) when I found someone who offered to sponsor me in exchange for a contribution to my health. I was not the skinniest mermaid, and five days a week every week for six in a row of early-morning cardio kicked my fishy butt into gear. I had worked with Mertailor on ordering a tail for another mermaid and friend of mine but was not entirely in love with his work, so I found Mermaid Raven and got myself a Merbella's tail based on the beautiful Peacock Mantis Shrimp. It gets to debut in its first gig as a mermaid in a display at this year's Salt Lake Comic Con (wish me luck). Now, you might be saying "This girl is crazy, a dry gig for her first event in a professional, high-quality tail?" but have no fear! I've been costuming for charity quite literally since I was a toddler. I've worked with the 501st Legion for their charity work and believe me, parades in an accurate Jawa costume when you're twelve sticks with you. I've done my fair share of gigs in ridiculously hot, sweaty costumes, and there's nothing I love more!
Also, I'm not entirely an idiot. I have myself a practice fabric tail from Fin Fun which has helped me train my body in preparation for the arrival of this silicone masterpiece. I'm aware of the weight and have focused on training my legs and core into being able to lift the heavy tail and monofin. I've also put myself to the test when it comes to swimming in my practice tail. To see how well I could swim and stay safe in a tail, when I went to French Polynesia with my family, I swam through the reefs and rocky lagoons. Didn't bump or scratch my tail one bit, even navigating through and around large rocks and reefs. I also learned that saltwater is ridiculously buoyant, more than I had expected, and it made diving down into the water tricky with such a naturally buoyant monofin (it's not the most fun thing to practice with because I had to re-learn how to sink myself with it, but you get used to it) but I managed to dive down about ten feet for some photos and video. After this, I swam myself out across part of the lagoon to a small, private island, which is no small task. Nothing sucks worse than fighting currents and the waves of passing boats while swimming through the saltwater with your brother (who stayed on the surface and struggled to keep up while he snorkeled, haha!). I made it to the island and back, and long story short, I only fell even more in love with being a mermaid.
It also led me to finding a cause. As I'm sure most of you know, reefs around the world are being damaged and dying. Submarine tours kill off parrot-fish (the fish responsible for keeping reefs algae-free and for also producing the sand for white beaches!) since they stir up dirt, they scare off sharks (which are vital, the best way to determine a healthy reef is to count the number of sharks you see) to make tourists feel more comfortable swimming, and people do not care enough to inform themselves so they step on and kill corals that take six or seven years to grow. A small lagoon nursery in Bora Bora is being built from scratch, bringing in and nurturing broken coral from the reefs and then planting it in the lagoon. This took six years but eventually as coral got larger, the fish began to come, and now it's a thriving ecosystem. However, the Marine Biologist working there still needs more help, and next summer I fully intend to travel back there and volunteer on a student visa to help him rebuild the reefs and, hopefully, use my mermaiding to go to the schools and teach local kids about reefs. The locals there are not interested in learning about reefs and caring for them, so a mermaid may be just what they need!
Backstory of my personal tail aside, I'm also a fan of music, play several instruments, and even arrange and compose my own works. I'm a ballroom dancer who also has a fondness for belly-dancing. I'm an award-winning actress and singer, love to write (as is apparent by this post, I can be quite wordy sometimes) and am a huge fan of the oceans and seas. I even donated money to a new local aquarium and paid for their Stingray Touchpool exhibit (seeing as Stingrays are my favorite sea creature, along with Puffer Fish aka the puppies of the reef system in Bora Bora).
Since I'm not quite sure what else to say or discuss, I think I'll probably leave it at that! If you've got any questions, feel free to ask. Perhaps soon I'll also share how my group of mermaids, Siren Tide, became a real pod!
Love From The Great Salt Lake,
<3 Merin
So now, I little about myself? I'm a young adult and college student studying to be a filmmaker and getting a second major in Marine Biology. I have been deeply fascinated with mermaids and marine life ever since I was a wee one and discovered The Little Mermaid. I'm a biased ginger and Ariel became my favorite princess, which coupled with my obsessiveness about swimming, only caused me to grow a deeper love for the undersea world.
I came about getting my first silicone tail ordered (which is due to arrive here in approximately two weeks!) when I found someone who offered to sponsor me in exchange for a contribution to my health. I was not the skinniest mermaid, and five days a week every week for six in a row of early-morning cardio kicked my fishy butt into gear. I had worked with Mertailor on ordering a tail for another mermaid and friend of mine but was not entirely in love with his work, so I found Mermaid Raven and got myself a Merbella's tail based on the beautiful Peacock Mantis Shrimp. It gets to debut in its first gig as a mermaid in a display at this year's Salt Lake Comic Con (wish me luck). Now, you might be saying "This girl is crazy, a dry gig for her first event in a professional, high-quality tail?" but have no fear! I've been costuming for charity quite literally since I was a toddler. I've worked with the 501st Legion for their charity work and believe me, parades in an accurate Jawa costume when you're twelve sticks with you. I've done my fair share of gigs in ridiculously hot, sweaty costumes, and there's nothing I love more!
Also, I'm not entirely an idiot. I have myself a practice fabric tail from Fin Fun which has helped me train my body in preparation for the arrival of this silicone masterpiece. I'm aware of the weight and have focused on training my legs and core into being able to lift the heavy tail and monofin. I've also put myself to the test when it comes to swimming in my practice tail. To see how well I could swim and stay safe in a tail, when I went to French Polynesia with my family, I swam through the reefs and rocky lagoons. Didn't bump or scratch my tail one bit, even navigating through and around large rocks and reefs. I also learned that saltwater is ridiculously buoyant, more than I had expected, and it made diving down into the water tricky with such a naturally buoyant monofin (it's not the most fun thing to practice with because I had to re-learn how to sink myself with it, but you get used to it) but I managed to dive down about ten feet for some photos and video. After this, I swam myself out across part of the lagoon to a small, private island, which is no small task. Nothing sucks worse than fighting currents and the waves of passing boats while swimming through the saltwater with your brother (who stayed on the surface and struggled to keep up while he snorkeled, haha!). I made it to the island and back, and long story short, I only fell even more in love with being a mermaid.
It also led me to finding a cause. As I'm sure most of you know, reefs around the world are being damaged and dying. Submarine tours kill off parrot-fish (the fish responsible for keeping reefs algae-free and for also producing the sand for white beaches!) since they stir up dirt, they scare off sharks (which are vital, the best way to determine a healthy reef is to count the number of sharks you see) to make tourists feel more comfortable swimming, and people do not care enough to inform themselves so they step on and kill corals that take six or seven years to grow. A small lagoon nursery in Bora Bora is being built from scratch, bringing in and nurturing broken coral from the reefs and then planting it in the lagoon. This took six years but eventually as coral got larger, the fish began to come, and now it's a thriving ecosystem. However, the Marine Biologist working there still needs more help, and next summer I fully intend to travel back there and volunteer on a student visa to help him rebuild the reefs and, hopefully, use my mermaiding to go to the schools and teach local kids about reefs. The locals there are not interested in learning about reefs and caring for them, so a mermaid may be just what they need!
Backstory of my personal tail aside, I'm also a fan of music, play several instruments, and even arrange and compose my own works. I'm a ballroom dancer who also has a fondness for belly-dancing. I'm an award-winning actress and singer, love to write (as is apparent by this post, I can be quite wordy sometimes) and am a huge fan of the oceans and seas. I even donated money to a new local aquarium and paid for their Stingray Touchpool exhibit (seeing as Stingrays are my favorite sea creature, along with Puffer Fish aka the puppies of the reef system in Bora Bora).
Since I'm not quite sure what else to say or discuss, I think I'll probably leave it at that! If you've got any questions, feel free to ask. Perhaps soon I'll also share how my group of mermaids, Siren Tide, became a real pod!
Love From The Great Salt Lake,
<3 Merin