There was a nice article yesterday in The Cavalier Daily about Hales Parcells, a college student who turned her love of mermaids and her passion for ocean conservation into a program of teaching school kids about preservation of the Chesapeake Bay while wearing her mermaid tail.

It is another great example of merging passions and social betterment programs.

Many mermaid performers are very active in ocean conservation, and it is a recurring theme also in mermaid art.

The growing enthusiasm and interest in mermaids is a great springboard for raising awareness about ocean conservation.

You may be interested also in the Amaryllis Art for Charity project, with its statues around the world promoting ocean conservation.

Last year I reported that the City of Luxembourg (which is not just a city, but a country in its own right) was planning a mermaid statue for its 1050th anniversary.

A contest was concluded on February 25th, which selected a contest entry by artist Serge Ecker.  The photo on the left is of a miniature model of the sculpture.

The mermaid theme is based on a well-known legend that the mermaid Melusine was the wife of Count Siegfried, who founded Luxembourg in 963.

The Melusine legend exists in a number of versions across Europe, with similar elements.  Essentially Melusine marries, but with the stipulation that once a week she must have absolute privacy.   She turns into a mermaid every Saturday, and spends the time in a bathtub in complete privacy.   One day, her husband can no longer contain his curiosity and spies on his wife while she is bathing, and sees her as a mermaid.  At this point, she vanishes forever, although she is occasionally seen in a nearby river.

There is a famous statue in Baden (Austria), in the Undine fountain, based on the story of Undine by  Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.   This story in turn is based partly on the Melusine legend.

Articles in the news media can be accessed below.
http://tuoitrenews.vn/lifestyle/17704/vn-artist-enters-luxembourg-mermaid-sculpture-finale
http://www.wort.lu/en/view/the-winning-mermaid-sculpture-revealed-530c9cdae4b01171e9aa3c7e

The Japanese island of Okinawa has a mermaid statue on Moon Beach on the western coast of the island.

The bronze statue was made in 1987 by world renowned artist Naka Bokunen, famous in particular for his brightly colored woodblock prints of Okinawa’s nature.

The statue commemorates a local legend about a mermaid who saved two swimming visitors to Moon Beach.  Mermaids rescuing swimmers or fishermen is a recurring theme in many local legends.

See the Moon Beach Mermaid page for more information.

It is official.  The beautiful and charming City of Tarpon Springs on the west coast of Florida is getting a fabulous 6′ 4″ bronze mermaid statue this spring.

The statue will tie in perfectly with the city’s strong tradition of cultural arts, with its strong Greek heritage, its tradition of diving for sponges and with its status as a haven for manatees.

The idea was proposed by yours truly to the Tarpon Springs Public Art Committee last year, and the idea was well received.  The Public Art Commission did a fabulous job of surveying city officials and prominent citizens for feedback on the idea.   Finding enthusiastic support from every quarter, a full proposal was made to the City Board of Commissioners, who authorized the project in December.   Final details were decided last week and the statue is currently in the process of being cast in bronze.

The statue, “Ama of Tarpon Springs”, is part of the Amaryllis Art for Charity project sponsored by German company Koh-i-Noor, which aims to eventually place 100 similar Ama statues across the world in locations of great beauty that are near water.  Ama of Tarpon Springs will be the 17th statue in the series, and the first on America’s East Coast.

The name Ama comes from the Japanese word Ama, referring to traditional pearl divers in Japan, similar to the haenyo divers of South Korea. Ama is also the nickname of French artist Amaryllis, who created the Ama mermaid sculpture as well as many other mermaid art pieces.

The Ama statue will be placed at the northernmost point of Craig Park, overlooking Spring Bayou and visible from the park, from the bayou waterways and from across the water. The statue will include a traditional vase sponge at the mermaid’s feet, and an engraving of a manatee on the base.

The Ama of Tarpon Springs project has been covered in the media by the Tampa Bay Times and the Suncoast News.

Philip

Daydream Island is just over half a mile long and about 600 feet wide, on the northeast coast of Australia, close to the Great Barrier Reef.   On the northeast tip of the island you will find 3 mermaids soaking up the sun.

The mermaid statues are named Serenity, Aphrodesia and Infinity, representing respectively mind, body and spirit.   They were created by David Joffee.

Daydream Island Resort and Spa pretty much takes up the entire island.   The resort is split in two – one part on the north end of the island, the other on the south end, with the middle being mountainous rock rising up about 150 feet from sea level.   It is a tropical paradise, with more than a touch of a mermaid theme.

For more photos and information on these mermaids, visit Daydream Island.

The Golden Mermaid in Songkhla, Thailand, has been in the press this week as a result of people conducting prayers in her location, and draping her with yellow fabric.

Officials have publicly announced that this is misguided and actually detracts from her image – the statue is a popular tourist attraction and was constructed for this purpose as a symbol if the city.

See more photos and details on this sculpture here.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park has been home to both live mermaids and mermaid statues since 1947.  Located on the west coast of Florida, it started out as a private enterprise, and was later owned by the ABC news network, but is today owned by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as a Florida State Park.  map

This sculpture stands at the entrance to the park, atop a 25′ pillar in the center of a water fountain.

Weeki Wachee Springs is the deepest (400′) naturally occurring spring in the United States and is the source for the Weeki Wachee River.  It provides a steady flow of water (170 million gallons daily) at 74.2 °F year-round.   The river takes a winding course for a little over 7 miles befores it flows into the Gulf of Mexico, and is a haven for manatees and other fresh-water creatures.

The live mermaids perform essentially just above the spring source, watched from a stage in an aquarium-like setting.   They are thoroughly trained divers who have learned to dive for extended periods without masks, breathing from air hoses when needed, and able to hold their breath for several minutes underwater while performing.  On rare occasions they are joined by manatees who have decided to join them at the river source.  The park is open every day of the year, and there are typically 2-3 mermaid shows daily.

Most everyone in town knows someone who is or was a mermaid performer, and there are many reminders of mermaids around town.

In addition to the main attraction mermaid shows, the park also has river cruises and animal shows, a water park area with water slides and many gardens and paths with statues and other attractions.

In addition to the tall mermaid sculpture shown above, there are many other mermaid statues inside and outside the park, all of which have the more traditional single mermaid tail.

Weeki Wachee was and remains the original mermaid show.   With the advances in mermaid tails and the increased interest in mermaids over the last decade, other mermaid shows have been opened, in Las Vegas, South Korea and Dubai.

For many more photos, see the Weeki Wachee Mermaids page.