http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-real-life-mermaids-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html The Real-Life Mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs By Sumitra on April 26th, 2012 Category: Pics, Travel If you want to see what mermaids look like in real life, you’d better head for Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida. Considered to be one of the oldest and most unique road side attractions of the state, the 430-acre theme park has been entertaining people for the past 60 years. People from all over the US visit Weeki Wachee, located an hour north of Tampa, to view its most unique attraction the beautiful women dressed like mermaids, swimming in the cool and clear spring waters. Becoming a Weeki Wachee mermaid is no easy task, on the contrary, it’s something that even the most experienced swimmers would find hard to do. The job involves spending almost the entire day under water, at a temperature ranging in the lower 70s. This is difficult, because the ideal water temperature for adults is much higher, between 85 and 89 degrees. Putting on 30 to 45 minute performances, three times a day, seven days a week is certainly no easy task. To add to this, the ladies have to wear tight, 15-pound mermaid tails that zip up the side and bind their legs together. It sure does look beautiful, but it’s pretty hard to swim about as though you have only one leg. Throw in a synchronized choreography routine and underwater lip-synching while trying to breathe through a hidden rubber hose and you’ve got some real heroes here. With all these factors in play, the mermaids manage to swim gracefully, with pretty hand movements and smiling faces. They sure must be highly talented actors to hide all that discomfort. Photo: Ripley’s Newsroom According to Stacy McConnell, a 31-year-old full time performer at Weeki Wachee Springs, making the whole thing look easy is what separates career mermaids from amateurs. “You don’t want to do a swimmer’s stroke when you’re being a mermaid. You can’t look like you’re struggling down there,” she says. They get it right after countless hours of training and rehearsals. It’s all about being graceful and looking natural. You learn how to swim with pretty hands. Weeki Wachee Springs is said to have had its golden age in the 1960s, when celebrities like Elvis Presley would stop by to watch the mermaids. But even today, it is still pretty popular, with about 175,000 visitors coming in each year. And it’s not easy to become one of the mermaids. The auditions are always nothing short of brutal. McConnell says that "...before we even get to talk to you, we make you get in the water. We watch from the theatre to see what faces you make." Obviously, they wouldn’t want to waste time with people whose cheeks pop out and eyes bulge out unattractively under water. That’s not what people come to see. Predictably, even after selection most mermaids don’t last more than a year or two on the job. This makes McConnell a senior mermaid, with over 12 years under her belt. It doesn’t pay much and she has a second job, but she isn’t prepared to quit anytime soon. I suppose the lure of playing a magical character is too hard to resist? ================== ================== http://www.ripleysnewsroom.com/mermaids-mb/ Ripley’s Aquarium to Host World Famous Weeki Wachee Mermaids in July 22. May, 2009 Comments Off MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The world famous mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida, known for their grace and beauty for the past 62 years, will be coming back to Ripley’s Aquarium this summer for 12 shows, July 24-26, 2009. Their performances last summer were critically acclaimed and there was standing room only in front of Ray Bay. Finned beauties coming back by popular demand! The mermaids will perform each day at 12, 2, 4 and 6 p.m. and will be available to meet and greet guests following each show in the shallows of Friendship Flats. The stage at Ripley’s Aquarium will be Ray Bay, a 15 foot deep, 85,000 gallon saltwater tank, populated with sharks and stingrays. Special photo opportunities and several interactive programs will be offered in conjunction with the mermaid’s visit, including a Mermaid Splash, where guests will join a mermaid in the water and splash, pet and frolic with the friendly stingrays. The mermaid shows are free with paid admission to the aquarium. For further information about the interactive programs with the mermaids (which require a reservation) or to reserve a spot, contact Mary Clark at 843-916-0888, extension 3226. A Brief History of the Weeki Wachee Mermaids Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, also called The City of Live Mermaids is truly an original piece of Florida’s rich heritage and one of the state’s earliest roadside attractions. The Weeki Wachee Springs underwater theater opened on Oct. 13, 1947. The mermaids performed synchronized ballet moves 20 feet underwater while breathing through special air hoses hidden in the scenery. In the 1950s, Weeki Wachee, located north of Tampa on Florida’s west coast, was one of the nation’s most popular tourist stops. The attraction received worldwide acclaim and several movies were filmed at the spring. Weeki Wachee’s heyday began in 1959, when the spring was purchased by the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC) and was heavily promoted. The ABC creative team developed themes for the underwater shows, with elaborate props, lifts, music, and story lines In the 1960s, the glamorous mermaids performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds – as many as half a million people a year came to see them. The mermaids were treated like royalty wherever they appeared in Florida and stars of those days, including Elvis, Don Knotts, Esther Williams, and Arthur Godfrey, stopped by to see them perform live. Today, tiny Weeki Wachee is one of the nation’s smallest cities, with a population of nine, including its mayor, Robyn Anderson, the GM of the attraction, and a former mermaid. It is also a Florida State Park. www.weekiwachee.com About Ripley’s Aquarium Ripley’s Aquarium (www.ripleysaquariums.com) is part of the Ripley Entertainment family of worldwide entertainment facilities including Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, a second world class aquarium in Gatlinburg, Tenn. More than 13 million people visit Ripley’s 73 attractions in 12 countries each year. Ripley Entertainment Inc. is a division of the Jim Pattison Group, the third largest privately held company in Canada ===================================== http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-03/odd-jobs-professional-mermaid Odd Jobs: Professional Mermaid The worst part about being a mermaid, according to Staycy McConnell, a 31-year-old, full-time mermaid performer at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida, is all the swimming. It may sound like a contradiction—not liking to swim when you’re a mermaid is like being a tax accountant who’s annoyed by math but the job requires more time underwater than even the most skilled swimmer would be comfortable with. The Florida air is usually warm, but the temperature in the Weeki Wachee freshwater springs, where McConnell performs with her fellow mermaids for packed houses three times a day, seven days a week, is usually in the low 70s. (The U.S. Water Fitness Association claims that the ideal water temperature for adults is between 85 and 89 degrees.) If you’re not one who really likes cold water, it can be pretty miserable,” says McConnell. Especially when you’re down there 30 to 45 minutes at a time.” Which just so happens to be the length of an average mermaid show. And then there’s the 15-pound mermaid tail that performers have to wear, which zips up the side and binds their legs together. You have to swim like you only have one leg, instead of two,” McConnell says. Which isn’t as easy as it looks.” Making it look easy is what separates career mermaids from the amateurs. You don’t want to do a swimmer’s stroke when you’re being a mermaid,” she says. “You can’t look like you’re struggling down there.” Performers spend countless hours rehearsing a highly stylized swimming technique called the Mermaid Crawl. “It’s about being graceful and looking natural,” McConnell says. “You learn how to swim with pretty hands.” Making sure your hands grip the water in an aesthetically pleasing manner isn’t the first thing most people think about when they’re 16 to 20 feet below the surface in freezing water. But it is for a Weeki Wachee mermaid. Then they have to remember the choreography of their routine, which includes underwater lip-syncing and synchronized swim-dancing, all while trying to breathe through a rubber hose and hoping that the pressure from being underwater won’t give them another ear infection or nose bleed. As they fight against the spring’s current, which can push against them at surprisingly strong speeds of up to five miles an hour, they must smile through it all as if they’re the world’s happiest, most relaxed, care-free, fictional creature. Weeki Wachee, located about an hour north of Tampa, is one of the oldest and most revered tourist attractions in Florida. It’s been around since 1947. Although its golden age came during the 60s—when it wasn’t uncommon for celebrity guests such as Elvis Presley to stop by and flirt with the mermaids—it still attracts steady crowds, with an annual attendance of around 175,000 visitors. It’s a far cry from nearby Disney World (DIS), which attracts 16 million-plus people every year. But Weeki Wachee, unlike Disney, hasn’t changed in any significant way in 65 years. The park was putting on mermaid shows back when your grandfather was vacationing in Florida, and it’s putting on more or less the same classic mermaid shows today. The auditions to be a Weeki Wachee mermaid, McConnell says, can be brutal, especially for the young men and women (yes, there are male mermaids) who think the job just requires posing for pictures with tourists. “Before we even talk to you,” she says, “we make you get in the water. We watch from the theater to see what faces you make.” Some people, she says, may be amazing swimmers, but their expressions underwater are far from elegant. Do their cheeks pop out like a mermaid Dizzy Gillespie, or do their complexions turn blue and their eyes bulge in unattractive ways? The last thing an audience at Weeki Wachee wants to see is a mermaid who looks as if he or she might be drowning. McConnell has been with Weeki Wachee for 12 years, making her the park’s current senior mermaid. (Most girls, she says, last only a year or two.) Being a mermaid may not be the highest-paying profession—she’s also a bartender at a nearby Applebee’s (DIN) to supplement her income—and health benefits for mermaids are only optional. (“We pay in sea shells,” she jokes. “In the underwater world, it’s legal tender.”) But McConnell says she has no intention of retiring any time soon. It may have something to do with the lack of career options, acting or otherwise, that require the same skill set involved in pretending to be a mythological half-human, half-fish hybrid. Asked what she might want to do once she hangs up her fins, McConnell says: “I guess I could do any show where you have to hold your breath for any length of time.” ============== http://www.weekiwachee.com/ official website ================ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeki_Wachee,_Florida Weeki Wachee is a city located in Hernando County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 12. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city continues to have a population of 12. The 12,000-acre (49 km2) Weekiwachee Preserve and the Weeki Wachee Springs park are located in the area. The park includes water rides, animal shows, mermaid costume shows, and manatee watching. The Weeki Wachee Gardens and Spring Hill, Florida communities are nearby. ============ http://www.floridastateparks.org/weekiwachee/ The mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs have delighted visitors since 1947. Today, visitors can still witness the magic of the mermaids, take a river boat cruise and canoe or kayak on the Weeki Wachee River. The 538-acre park features a first magnitude spring and a 400-seat submerged theatre for watching the live mermaid show. Buccaneer Bay offers a fun-filled flume ride for thrill seekers of all ages. Our white sandy beach area and covered picnic pavilions provide a relaxing day for your entire family. Weeki Wachee's animal shows provide audiences with an entertaining and educational look at domesticated birds and reptiles. Located on U.S. 19 at the intersection of State Road 50, just north of Spring Hill and south of Homosassa Springs. =========== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeki_Wachee_Springs =========== https://www.facebook.com/WeekiWacheeSprings ============ http://www.weekiwachee.com/index.php/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs ============