Hannah Mermaid
Born
Hannah Fraser

(1974-02-06) 6 February 1974
Occupations
Websitewww.hannahfraser.com

Hannah Fraser (born 6 February 1974), known professionally as Hannah Mermaid, is a professional model, actress, dancer, and performer who specialises in underwater and ocean-oriented freediving performances, often in mermaid costume.[1][2][3] She is a central figure in modern mermaiding[4][5][6][7][8][9] and is an ocean ecology activist.[10][11][12]

Early life

Fraser grew up in Australia. She made her first mermaid tail at the age of 9, inspired by 1984 film Splash.[13][14] She began performing as a mermaid in 2003.[2] She has been featured in photo shoots, advertising campaigns and on film.[15][16][17]

Her father, Andy, was a founding member of the rock band Free when he was just 15. He died in 2015.

Career

Her marine conservation activism has included campaigning against the overfishing and culling of sharks, dolphins and whales,[10][18] and against unsustainable fishing practices and ocean pollution,[19][20] often in conjunction with Greenpeace.[21][22]

She appeared in the ecological documentary The Cove, which won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for its portrayal of the Taiji dolphin drive hunt.[23]

In 2013, she was featured in an underwater fashion shoot with whale sharks in the Philippines, designed to publicise the ecological impact of the shark-finning industry on the shark population.[24][25]

Also in 2013, she starred in a conservation film, Betrayal, to campaign against the hunting of humpback whales with which she freedived in Tonga.[26][27] That same year she night dived while breath-holding at 30 ft (9.1 m) depth with manta rays in Kona, Hawaii, to raise awareness of their non-protected status.[10][28] To highlight her ecological message, Fraser and Shawn Heinrichs released Manta's Last Dance, a video of Fraser's freedive performance with manta rays, just two weeks prior to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).[29] The video, played to CITES delegates, is cited as having contributed to manta rays securing worldwide protected status.[12][18][30]

She appeared in the TV documentary film Great White Shark: Beyond the Cage of Fear in 2013, in which she freedived with a mature great white shark while wearing a mermaid tail but notably had no armour or cage.[17]

In 2014, she freedived on a film shoot with tiger sharks, unarmoured and without scuba gear, in order to highlight the Australian Government's policy of culling tiger sharks to protect tourists.[11][29][31][32][33] The decision to cull was later reversed.[12][18] Fraser also appeared on the Discovery Channel alongside Sharkanado's Tara Reid, where she was interviewed about her dive with tiger sharks and on 20/20 ABC News.[34][35]

In 2015 in Valencia, Spain, she delivered a TEDx Talk as part of the United Nations' World Oceans Day in which she explained her role as an ocean ecological activist.[12][36][37]

In Atlantic Ocean Mermaid Hannah Fraser, Sea Turtle, and Blue Tang Fish swims with dolphins, turtles, pennant coral fishes, copperband butterflyfishes, blue tang fishes, and fishes on the beach in The Cove 2 (2023) on DVD and Blu-Ray from Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions

References

  1. ↑ "Being a professional mermaid is an actual job and we want to change careers". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Leading Ladies: Hannah Mermaid". Wild Spice Magazine. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Professional mermaids work their tails off at Greensboro Aquatic Center". MyFox8. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Professional Mermaid Is Committed to Her Splashy Lifestyle". Mashable.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Jobs to Thrill Your Inner Child: Professional Mermaid". Payscale.com. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Issue 6: Mermaids & Mythology magazine OUT NOW!". Mermaids and Mythology magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Mermaid tails not just for kids, say adult mermaids". CBC News. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "So you want to be a mermaid?". USA Today. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Je suis sirène professionnelle — Témoignage". madmoizelle.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 "REAL LIFE 'MERMAID' DEVOTES HER LIFESTYLE TO SAVING DEADLY SHARKS AND MANTA RAYS". ABC13. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Professional Mermaid Dances With Sharks, Says Humans Are 'The Real Dangerous Predators'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Turning Fantasy Into Reality: Joyful Ocean Activism, Hannah Fraser, TEDxBerkleeValencia". TEDx Talks. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Mermaid makes a splash to help sea creatures". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Ein bisschen Nass muss sein". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Challenging Convention in Advertising". LinkedIn. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Tata Shoe Commercial". Bestplay. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Beyond the Cage of Fear - Trailer". Vimeo. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  18. 1 2 3 "The Activist Mermaid". Motherboard. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Hannah Fraser poses as a mermaid in dazzling underwater photos". Metro. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Acclaimed Mermaid Delivers Strong Message to Chicken of the Sea". EcoWatch.com. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "What Would A Real Mermaid Think of the Way We Treat Our Oceans? We Asked One". Greenpeace.org. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  22. ↑ "Greenpeace 'Mermaid' Appears at Chicken of The Sea Protest". Patch.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  23. ↑ Buerk, Roland. "Dolphin hunt film, the Cove, screened in Japan". BBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "Models swim with whale sharks for fashion shoot". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 January 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  25. ↑ "Models swim with whale sharks in an underwater fashion shoot". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  26. ↑ "In pictures: Model's stunning underwater shoot with whales". The Daily Record. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  27. ↑ "See real-life mermaid Hannah Fraser swim with whales in stunning pictures". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  28. ↑ "Amazing pictures of real-life MERMAID dancing with giant manta ray". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  29. 1 2 "PHOTOS: Human 'mermaid' Hannah Fraser dances with wild tiger sharks". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "Manta Ballet". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  31. ↑ "Diver Dances With Sharks To Protest Shark Killings [Video]". Social News Daily. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  32. ↑ "Anti shark culling Tiger Shark dance protest with Hannah Fraser". Surf Europe Magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  33. ↑ "The Mermaid Speaks: Why You Need to Take a Stand to Help End the Australian Shark Cull [PETITION]". One Green Planet. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  34. ↑ "Mermaid Hannah Fraser and Sharkanado's Tara Reid". Discovery.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  35. ↑ "Super Human Mermaid Hannah Fraser interviewed on 20/20 ABC news". esbuzz.net. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  36. ↑ "Mermaid Hannah Fraser kicks off 2015 World Oceans Day". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  37. ↑ "Mermaid School Makes a Splash in Spain". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
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