WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 This is not an artificial swimming pool, 2 00:00:02.170 --> 00:00:05.090 and it's not filled with chlorinated, treated water. 3 00:00:05.090 --> 00:00:08.070 This is a natural spring in Weeki Wachee, Florida. 4 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:10.440 And it's at the top of a massive system of caverns, 5 00:00:10.440 --> 00:00:12.520 where the Weeki Wachee River surfaces. 6 00:00:12.520 --> 00:00:14.680 Hundreds of millions of litres of water 7 00:00:14.680 --> 00:00:17.230 forcing its way out the ground every day. 8 00:00:17.230 --> 00:00:19.790 But while the spring might be natural, 9 00:00:19.790 --> 00:00:22.430 what's going on under the surface definitely isn't. 10 00:00:22.430 --> 00:00:26.020 It's created by humans, because for more than 70 years, 11 00:00:26.020 --> 00:00:28.160 there's been a mermaid show here. 12 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.030 - Toughest part of the job, I definitely think, is training. 13 00:00:31.030 --> 00:00:33.260 Took me about six months to swim my first show. 14 00:00:33.260 --> 00:00:35.000 Once you get hired, you get scuba certified 15 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:36.990 and then you can start on the hose, which -- 16 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:38.790 that's the process that takes the longest. 17 00:00:38.790 --> 00:00:40.570 Learning how to breathe and be comfortable down there. 18 00:00:40.570 --> 00:00:42.810 It takes a lot of breath control and building your lungs. 19 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:46.620 Teaching your lungs and stretching them and getting them used to holding the air. 20 00:00:46.620 --> 00:00:48.670 The longest we hold our breath here is the Ferris wheel. 21 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:50.990 That's when we hold each other and we spin around. 22 00:00:50.990 --> 00:00:55.550 The water is 74.2° year-round. It's very cold being in there. 23 00:00:55.550 --> 00:01:00.450 - We have approximately 20-25 young women on staff 24 00:01:00.450 --> 00:01:02.410 who perform as mermaids. 25 00:01:02.410 --> 00:01:05.210 We also have about three or four gentlemen 26 00:01:05.210 --> 00:01:09.010 that play the role of the prince in our version of The Little Mermaid. 27 00:01:09.010 --> 00:01:11.950 - This place is the work of a man called Newt Perry, 28 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:13.900 world class swimmer and swimming coach, 29 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:17.460 former diver for the U.S. Navy, and consultant to Hollywood. 30 00:01:17.460 --> 00:01:19.570 He looked at this spring and thought, 31 00:01:19.570 --> 00:01:21.390 "I could put a show on in there". 32 00:01:21.390 --> 00:01:24.440 The first theatre had 18 seats, but by the sixties, 33 00:01:24.440 --> 00:01:27.070 the ABC television network had bought the place, 34 00:01:27.070 --> 00:01:30.330 and built a theatre for 400. And it was selling out. 35 00:01:30.330 --> 00:01:32.370 - Well, 117 million gallons of water 36 00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:36.300 coming from a very tiny opening at the bottom of the spring on a daily basis 37 00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:39.620 will provide a current, and it's about a 5mph current. 38 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:40.920 They're not swimming in a tank. 39 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:45.140 There's so many different species of wildlife that inhabit a Florida river, we get 'em all. 40 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:48.567 Turtles, otters, the manatees are always a favourite. 41 00:01:48.567 --> 00:01:50.200 - The turtles love to get in the way, 42 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:51.680 and they'll follow your tail around. 43 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:53.960 We don't really have snakes come that often. 44 00:01:53.960 --> 00:01:55.200 Every once in a while, blue moon. 45 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.450 And then sometimes we'll get alligators. 46 00:01:57.450 --> 00:01:59.360 If they're in a range that's too close, 47 00:01:59.360 --> 00:02:00.420 we'll get out of the water. 48 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.871 - In the 60s, Weeki Wachee was a spectacular, world-famous tourist attraction. 49 00:02:04.871 --> 00:02:08.260 But by the 90s, the consensus was that is was a relic. 50 00:02:08.260 --> 00:02:11.650 Dated and down on its luck, at least compared to the shiny new theme parks 51 00:02:11.650 --> 00:02:14.540 that Disney and Universal were opening over in Orlando. 52 00:02:14.540 --> 00:02:19.050 In 2003, the New York Times called this place "aging" and "faded". 53 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:21.400 But it turns out that once something gets old enough, 54 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:26.035 with the right marketing, "outdated" can become "retro". "Historic". 55 00:02:26.035 --> 00:02:28.020 - Weeki Wachee Springs was a private company 56 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:31.980 all the way up until 2008, when the state of Florida, 57 00:02:31.980 --> 00:02:35.290 in an effort to help save it, acquired the attraction. 58 00:02:35.290 --> 00:02:37.240 And not only did they acquire it 59 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:40.890 for the natural resource that we have here, the spring, 60 00:02:40.890 --> 00:02:43.490 the scrub habitat that surrounds the spring, 61 00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:45.740 but also because of the cultural significance 62 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:51.337 of what the mermaids have meant to Florida tourism for seven decades now. 63 00:02:51.337 --> 00:02:54.160 - Weeki Watchee is never going to be on same level as Walt Disney World. 64 00:02:54.160 --> 00:02:55.380 It couldn't be. 65 00:02:55.380 --> 00:03:00.110 But the same day I'm here, the Florida state tourist board have sent a crew to film. 66 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:03.400 The last audition call for mermaids here made the news around the world, 67 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:08.260 and the articles are sounding a lot more positive than they did 15 years ago. 68 00:03:08.260 --> 00:03:12.810 In the 21st century, Weeki Wachee is becoming a bit of living history. 69 00:03:12.810 --> 00:03:16.410 History that still has three shows a day. 70 00:03:16.410 --> 00:03:19.720 - Being a mermaid is the best job anyone could ask for. 71 00:03:19.720 --> 00:03:23.100 My favourite part of the job is dealing with the kids 72 00:03:23.100 --> 00:03:24.630 and making a difference in the community. 73 00:03:24.630 --> 00:03:27.310 We do a lot of dealing with Make-A-Wish programmes, 74 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:29.350 and these kids think that you're really a mermaid 75 00:03:29.350 --> 00:03:31.850 and they think that everything you're doing is so magical. 76 00:03:31.850 --> 00:03:33.860 Just making such a difference in their lives, 77 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:35.070 just by coming to work, 78 00:03:35.070 --> 00:03:37.090 we're pretty lucky that we can do that. 79 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:39.270 - Thanks to all the team at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. 80 00:03:39.270 --> 00:03:42.220 You can find out more about them at the links in the description.