I became a professional mermaid after my health stopped me having a regular job
A woman, who struggled to work full-time in a conventional role due to suffering from genetic and chronic health conditions, has shared how she's now found her dream job - as a professional mermaid.
Jasmine Seales, 33, from Newbury, Berkshire, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a group of genetic disorders that affect connective tissues - and fibromyalgia and says her health problems made it difficult for her to hold down a full time job. Seales additionally has the mental health condition attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
It was only after hearing about one of the first professional mermaids in the UK and finding out there was a space in a mermaid camp that Jasmine decided to book herself onto the course. She attended the camp, which covered freediving and how to safely hold your breath, and she's been working as a freelance mermaid and a designer of mermaid tails and tops ever since.
Growing up in the Isle of Wight, Jasmine said she always loved swimming and diving in the sea. "The Little Mermaid was also my favourite film, so to do this as a job is just a dream," she explains.
In her role as a mermaid Jasmine has worked across a range of events, from children's birthday parties and festivals, where she sometimes has to perform underwater choreographies in a travelling tank. "I love dressing up in anything sparkly," she says. "And I love doing the make up, though it does take a lot of time to get ready. The more realistic and better you look the more you can charge."
As well as getting a lot of her freelance gigs via Instagram, Jasmine says she also gets work through agencies, such as Hire a Mermaid. The other half of her time she spends making costumes for other mermaids from her home studio, offering a flexible way to earn money when suffering from bouts of pain. "Even when I am not well I can just work in my pyjamas so it really suits me," she explains.
Despite feeling so much happier since starting her new role, Jasmine says there's a lot more to being a professional mermaid than people might imagine. "A lot of training and time goes into it," she explains. "It is not just posing as a mermaid. If you wear a silicon tail, which you get paid £15 more for, once it is on you cant walk or take it off. Sometimes the work can be very physical - I have a tail that weights 19lbs and that's the heaviest one."
In the future Jasmine hopes there will be a wider range of mermaid positions in the UK like there are in the US. "That is the only downside," she says. "There isn’t any full time roles for mermaids here but hopefully that will change."
Even though some of her friends work as mermaids in aquariums, Jasmine says that type of work is "too cold" for her due to her health issues. “It’s freezing doing aquarium work," she says. "The water is too cold and difficult with my illnesses."
She says the cold water also has an impact on her ability to hold her breath. "Holding your breath in cold water is like something else," she explains. "You have to look very natural and you need to get to one minute holding your breath, but I can only do 30 seconds."
On November 30 Jasmine is competing for Hampshire in the Miss Ocean World UK at Lincoln Arts Centre. Discussing her reason for entering the pageant she explains how she hopes to raise awareness about marine conservation and saving the oceans. One of her outfits for the eco creative round is made out of 1,000 shredded plastic bags.
"In 25 years there is predicted to be more plastic in the ocean than fish," she explains. "It is just sad that that is our reality and it is humans who have to fix it. I think it is awful that it has got to this point. I haven't really thought about winning. I am just doing as much as I can to highlight the subject. We really need to change our ways as humans."
Read more about invisible illnesses:
I was dragged out of a disabled toilet as my illness isn't visible (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
I quit work after Crohn's left me bedridden and unable to control my bowels (Yahoo Life UK, 9-min read)
Tiredness and headaches could be signs of 'invisible' condition as expert says it 'can start slowly' (Birmingham Live, 3-min read)
