Florida mermaids find upstream home at Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg

Photo by Submitted

Maybe mermaids are sea-nymphs of legend, subjects of fairy tales, sirens of myth.

So what are three of them doing this weekend swimming in a tank at the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies?

Today through Sunday, May 3, mythology meets its public.

Three "mermaids" from the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida are appearing at Ripley's aquarium in Gatlinburg. They'll perform nine shows, swimming at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. today, Saturday, May 2, and Sunday.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is also called "The City of Live Mermaids." The park's underwater theater opened in 1947. Women costumed as mermaids, tails and all, have been performing synchronized ballet moves 20 feet underwater for more than half a century. (And since these mermaids are human beings, they breathe using air hoses hidden in the theater scenery.)

In Gatlinburg, the mermaids will perform shows in the aquarium's Stingray Bay. The 15-foot deep, 85,000 gallon saltwater tank is home to five species of sharks and four species of stingrays.

After each show, the mermaids will swim to the shallows of Touch-A-Ray Bay to meet aquarium guests.

The Gatlinburg performance is only the second time a group of the Weeki Wachee mermaids has left the Florida theater to perform. The last time mermaids performed elsewhere was last year at Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The mermaid shows are free with paid aquarium admission of $22.29 for adults, $12.25 for children ages 6 to 11 and $5.56 for children ages 2-5.

More than 100,000 sea creatures live in the aquarium's 1.4 million gallons of water.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!

© 2009 Knoxville.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.