Hannah Fraser (born 6 February 1974), known professionally as Hannah Mermaid, is a professional model, actress,

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

, and performer who specialises in underwater and ocean-oriented freediving performances, often in mermaid costume. She is a central figure in modern

mermaiding Mermaiding (also referred to as artistic mermaiding, mermaidry, or artistic mermaid performance) is the practice of wearing, and often swimming in, a costume mermaid tail. In the beginning of the twentieth century mermaiding was sometimes refe ...

and is an ocean ecology activist.

Early life

Fraser grew up in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She made her first mermaid tail at the age of 9, inspired by 1984 film ''Splash''. She began performing as a mermaid in 2003. She has been featured in photo shoots, advertising campaigns and on

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. Her father,

Andy Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

, was a founding member of the rock band

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

when he was just 15. He died in 2015.

Career

Her

marine conservation activism Marine conservation activism is the efforts of non-governmental organizations and individuals to bring about social and political change in the area of marine conservation. Marine conservation is properly conceived as a set of management strategie ...

has included campaigning against the

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

and culling of sharks, dolphins and whales, and against unsustainable fishing practices and

ocean pollution Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there. The majorit ...

, often in conjunction with

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. She appeared in the ecological documentary '' The Cove'', which won the 2010 Academy Award for

Best Documentary Feature Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

for its portrayal of the

Taiji dolphin drive hunt The Taiji dolphin drive hunt is based on driving dolphins and other small cetaceans into a small bay where they can be killed or captured for their meat and for sale to dolphinariums. The new primary killing method is done by cutting the spinal ...

. 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. Also in 2013, she starred in a conservation film, ''Betrayal'', to campaign against the hunting of humpback whales with which she freedived in Tonga. That same year she night dived while breath-holding at depth with

manta ray Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...

s in Kona, Hawaii, to raise awareness of their non-protected status. 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). The video, played to CITES delegates, is cited as having contributed to manta rays securing worldwide protected status. 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. 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.ideo>ETITION> The decision to cull was later reversed. Fraser also appeared on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

alongside Sharkanado's Tara Reid, where she was interviewed about her dive with tiger sharks and on ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' ABC News. 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. 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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mermaid, Hannah 1974 births British activists British conservationists British female dancers British female models British freedivers British film actresses British performance artists Living people People from Chertsey