Once A Mermaid, Always a Mermaid

Once upon a time, seamen told tall tales of beautiful mermaids in unmarked seas. The general population concedes the mythical creatures couldn't exist. However, Jane Clayson finds that such aquatic creatures have been attracting tourists to Florida's Wekki Wachee Springs for more than a half a century.

For more than 50 years, tourist have visited Weeki Wachee Springs to view a scene right out of a fairy tale.

"It's definitely a strange occupation, being a mermaid," said Morgana Sheldon, who dons a costume to take on the role of a mermaid. "A lot of people haven't heard of it and you say, 'I'm a mermaid.' They're kind of like, 'What?'"

Sheldon has performed as a mermaid in a unique underwater theater at Weeki Wachee Springs for nearly two years.

"Its definitively a family place," Sheldon explained. "The little girls love it. Some of them think that it's real and that's when it's really sweet, when they think it's real."

She says the toughest part of the job is learning to breathe from the air hose.

"That can kind of freak you out," said Sheldon. "Swimming with a mermaid tail is different. We put flippers in there. It's not as hard as you would think because the tails aren't very heavy and we just pull with our arms."

The mermaids enter and exit by way of an underwater tunnel which gives the audience the illusion that they are swimming up from the beneath the spring.

"It is challenging to do underwater choreography because everything is blurry; we don't wear masks," explained Sheldon. "We can't really see each other."

Newt Perry, a Navy diver, created the theater and the mermaid show. He felt crystal clear waters, fed by an underground aquifer would be the perfect place to stage underwater spectacles.

"He started with the idea of underwater ballets and eating and drinking and just a demonstration," said Barbara Wynns, a veteran mermaid. "And then over the years they progressed after 1960s to these stage plays which had lifts and props and costumes and story lines and music to go with it."

Wynns was a mermaid in the 1960s and '70s and she remembers Weeki Wachee's glory days.

"Early '60s, prior to Disney World, it was a place to see," she said. "We had at one time eight shows a day. People would be standing in line out to highway 19 on a holiday to get in."

Today, Wynns is part of a group of former mermaids who are proving that you're never too old to wear a tail.

She says the youngest former mermaid is 47 years old and the oldest is 71 years old.

Once a week, they practice their old routines; they perform once a month.

"We forget that we're 50 and 40 and 60 and 70. When you're in the water you feel 19. Our motto is 'Once a mermaid, always a mermaid,'" said Wynns.

Today, Weeki Wachee Springs is more than just a mermaid show. It is a little bit of history and a glimpse back to what Florida used to be.

The attraction is about an hour north of Tampa Bay.