- Training to become a mermaid should have just been fun.
But I unexpectedly had to learn how to save a life.
(dramatic music)
Ever since I was a kid, the mythology of mermaids
has fascinated me,
and today I'm getting my shot at becoming one.
- So a Mermaid is a mythical half human, half,
typically half woman, half fish,
or half sea creature type being.
All of our historical accounts of mermaids
are definitely pretty dark and sinister.
Whereas today, you can be a mermaid as a full-time job
living in the Florida Keys.
- However, terrifying mermaids might have been
in early human history,
mermaids swimming in today's seaside shores
have one fin in fantasy and the other in free diving.
My training starts with Anna Capps,
a PADI-certified mermaid instructor
here in the Florida Keys.
Her course will not only teach me
the techniques to swim as a mermaid,
but also the tactics needed to revive an unresponsive diver
from oxygen deprivation
or potentially drowning while underwater.
Wait a minute.
Why do I need to know how to revive a diver
from possibly drowning?
Because today, in order to become a certified mermaid
I will need to save an unresponsive diver
at depths of up to 20 feet
while swimming with my legs bound in a monofin suit.
Don't be fooled by the colorful mermaid tail.
This is going to be one of the scariest challenges
I've ever undertaken
where anything could go wrong.
Okay, let's do this. Whew. - Cool.
- All right.
- So those three recovery breaths.
- Yes. - Okay, again,
those are the most important breaths
that you're gonna take during any portion of your dive,
okay? - Okay.
- [Anna] That's gonna allow you
to off-gas that buildup of CO2
while rapidly in taking fresh new oxygen
and keeping your blood pressure stable
so that you're not at risk of blacking out
if you're slightly hypoxic. - I don't want to blackout.
I really, I don't wanna blackout today.
- Yeah. No. - It's not a good Look
for a mermaid.
- [Anna] Nope, not a good look.
(Christina breathing heavily) - Whenever you're ready
take your full final inhale.
- [Christina] For this exercise,
I've been asked to hold my breath as long as I can
while listening to Anna's guidance
in order to build up my tolerance
for retaining oxygen while underwater.
- [Anna] Let the water and the float support you.
- [Christina] Listening to Anna's calm instructions
as I retain my breath
helps me keep my mind relaxed and heart rate down.
Fortunately for me, I don't have thalassophobia,
which is the fear of deep bodies of water,
but I sure hope she'll be equally helpful to me
once out at sea
for battling the wind and the currents
will surely make my heart race faster.
- [Anna] Get your feet below you
before you lift that airway up,
and I'll coach you through those three recovery breaths.
(both breathing in and out heavily)
Are you okay?
- I'm okay. (laughs) - You're okay!
- That really actually- - Can you take a guess
how long that was?
- 30? 30 seconds?
- A minute and 44 seconds.
- No way! (laughs) Are you serious?
- [Anna] I'm 100% serious.
- Oh, my gosh! - You owe me 10 tacos.
(both laughing)
- All right, I'll buy you 10 tacos.
- Okay, great!
- Whew, I feel like I could actually be
a professional mermaid now.
This is so much fun! - Maybe by the end
of the day.
- Okay, she's like,
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Christina." (laughs)
- [Anna] Let's see how you feel in open water first.
- Oh, yeah, yeah, this is just a pool, Christina.
Open water's a whole nother story.
All right, this is my first time trying out my mermaid tail,
so here we go.
- Mermaids are a part of mythology all across the globe.
Whether you are talking about Mami Wata in Central Africa
or Sirens off the coast of Ireland,
there's a sense of beauty and danger
that's sort of wrapped up in the mermaid myth,
and I think that is an interesting comment on human culture.
(Christina breathing in and out heavily)
- All right, how did I do?
- I think you did a really great job here in the pool.
So I think you're ready to go into an open water environment
and apply all the skills that you've learned here
out on the reef.
You ready to do it?
- Woo! I'm ready.
All right, my wild friends, we are out in the open ocean.
We are going to be diving down to a depth of 20 feet.
I've never done that before, so I'm a little nervous.
But I'm really hoping she can sign off my papers
at becoming a real-life mermaid.
I think the toughest part about becoming a mermaid
is actually putting the tail on.
It's a process.
Yeah!
These waves are making me a feel a little sick here.
Need to get into the water, need to feel better.
Get back to my home in the water.
Anna spotted a reef for us to dive down to
in my first attempt at swimming as a mermaid in the ocean.
Right away, I can feel the difference in strength needed
swimming in a monofin against the ocean current
compared to the training pool.
But there's no going back now.
Time to put this mermaid trainee to the first test.
(water splashing)
(enchanting music)
Surprisingly to me, I had no concerns for holding my breath
while taking in these vibrant surroundings.
As we dove down, I even spotted a beautiful nurse shark
and wondered how many mermaids has she encountered
off these shores?
So good. (indistinct)
- All right, lean back.
- Ah, that was actually not too bad,
but that was with my mask on,
and I'm about to do this without my mask
and it's kind of freaking me out right now, so.
But Anna's great.
She's been there with me the whole entire time,
and I trust in her and have faith in her
that she's gonna be right next to me
when I'm blind in the ocean in a mermaid tail.
(dramatic music) (water splashing)
As I dive down and open my eyes,
I quickly realize everything around me,
even Anna swimming just feet from me, is blurry.
Not knowing how far I am from the sea floor is unsettling
to say the least.
(water splashing)
- [Anna] Breathe.
Breathe.
- Whoo!
- [Crew] Well, how did it go?
- (laughs) Well, it went well.
A lot better than I expected it was gonna go.
It was definitely very scary without my mask on though.
That was the scary part.
Once I did that though, not too bad.
Feeling pretty good, actually.
Diving as a mermaid was liberating.
But now it's time for my final certified test,
reviving an unresponsive diver from drowning.
The fun mystique and lore just vanished
with the danger of this next maneuver.
(dramatic music)
As she dives down, I look for her to release bubbles,
my cue, she's in need of rescuing.
My heart pounds as I take in one last deep breath.
With every muscle in my body,
I pushed against the sea and plunged down.
And without hesitation,
I started positioning her to breach the surface.
As I held her head above the water,
I began the Blow, Tap and Talk recovery maneuver.
(dramatic music)
- Nailed it on the first try!
(Christina laughs)
- Oh, wow! - Nailed it!
Textbook rescue.
- [Christina] And with that dive, Anna told me the good news
as I swam back toward the raft.
I'm a real-life mermaid! Woo! (laughs)
- Surely when we think about the ocean
and we think about the reef, the parrotfish,
the colors and the vibrancy in that environment
are naturally just what it is.
So I imagine a mermaid, if she's suited to her environment
she's also colorful and beautiful
like you would see on a reef.
- All right, my wild friends,
now that I am officially a certified mermaid
the Brave crew has, well, challenged me
to dive down to 20 feet,
so we've dropped this line with an anchor on it
and I'm about to give this a go.
Here we go.
(dramatic music) (water splashing)
(enchanting music)
In all honesty,
when I signed up for this course,
I had no idea what it truly took
to become a real-life mermaid.
From the lifelike costume designs
to the sheer physical strength,
and above all,
the trust within your fellow mermaid to come to your aid,
this course was far beyond my wildest expectations.
(enchanting music continues)
(water splashing)
- Good job!
- All right, Brave Wilderness crew,
I accepted your challenge and I beat it.
- [Crew] How was it?
- (laughs) That was wild, man.
I didn't think I would be able to save somebody,
and I just did that.
So she said I did a really great job, textbook save,
and it's a really good feeling.
I'm not gonna lie, a really good feeling.
- [Christina] Are you a mermaid now?
- I'm a real-life mermaid, man.
- Dude! - Dude!
- You did it. - Yeah. I'm real.
It's real. I'm certified.
Beyond the mystique and lore
of a fictitious female sea creature,
mermaids today dive for conservation
and provide underwater cleanups such as Dive Against Debris.
Our oceans need protection
and mermaids are leading the charge
to preserve the wildlife that need these reefs to endure.
All right, my wild friends,
I have finally achieved one of my childhood dreams
of becoming a real-life mermaid.
I hope this inspires you to live out your dreams,
however big or small.
I'm Christina Wilson, and I'll see you
on my next wild adventure.
(conch shell trumpeting)
(animal howling) (birds chirping)