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Hannah Mermaid

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Hannah Mermaid
Born
Hannah Fraser

(1974-02-06) 6 February 1974 (age 50)
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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ "Being a professional mermaid is an actual job and we want to change careers". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. 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. ^ a b c "REAL LIFE 'MERMAID' DEVOTES HER LIFESTYLE TO SAVING DEADLY SHARKS AND MANTA RAYS". ABC13. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Professional Mermaid Dances With Sharks, Says Humans Are 'The Real Dangerous Predators'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b "Beyond the Cage of Fear - Trailer". Vimeo. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  18. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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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