Look carefully in the deep, blue oceans off the Illawarra and, if you're lucky, you may just see a mermaid.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Resident mermaids Maxine McLaughlin and Chrissy Pignataro are among the Australia's only certified mermaid free divers. Yes, it's a thing.
The Illawarra Mercury was invited along for a free dive off Shellharbour on Monday and it was a graceful as you'd imagine.
The duo both admit they get "huh" looks from many people when they say they are mermaid-qualified free divers.
"They kind of laugh thinking that you're joking," Ms McLaughlin said. "I tell them it's kind of like free diving, but with a tail."
Shellharbour resident Ms McLaughlin has been free diving for years - she was Australia's first female instructor trainer with PADI and one of the nation's first mermaid instructors. The progression to mermaid diving was a natural one.
"It's more than just popping on a costume for cosplay, there's a full element of sport and art to it as well," she said.
"It is fun, it's artistic as well. There's so much movement you can do, you get to play around. You get to grow with it, you never really out grow, it's something adults can do as well.
"You can make it more difficult for yourself and then it becomes a challenge, it becomes a physical activity. You have to really think and use your body and have a lot of mind/body connection."
Mermaiding is a competitive sport in places like China and Europe, it's recreational in Australia.
Free diver Ms Pignataro is new to mermaiding and put her first tail on just five weeks ago.
"It's peaceful, beautiful, you're connected to the underwater world It's where everything makes to me," she said.
Serious side to being a Little Mermaid
With Disney's The Little Mermaid in cinemas next month, Ms McLaughlin urged parents to think of safety before buying their child a mermaid tail to go swimming.
"Anytime you put on a monofin or a mermaiding costume it's not a toy, it is a piece of sports equipment. There are safety concerns that come with that and that's why we do encourage people to become a certified mermaid," she said.
Courses teach want-to-be-mermaids how to be safe, how to self-rescue and how to rescue your friends. It's open for people aged six years or older.
Ms Pignataro is thriving off the challenge of "having her legs stuck together" and the training involved, but warned of the dangers.
"We've had so many [non-mermaid coastal] drownings this year that's why I hope people won't just go buying tails for their children after seeing The Little Mermaid," she said.
"There will be thousands of people wanting to buy mermaid tails and I suggest people get looked after and maybe do a course."
One-day PADI mermaid courses are being run in the Illawarra this year. Visit Aussie Sires on Facebook or join the Aussie Sirens and Sea People group for more information on mermaid swimming courses.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.