Finny business
Brandee Anthony, known as the Vero Beach Mermaid, teaches “mermaiding” and free diving and can hold her breath for about 2½ minutes. BRANDEE ANTHONY MEDIA PHOTOS
Pro mermaid helps people channel their inner Ariel
BY KERRY FIRTH
Anthony stores 43 mermaid tails and 40 tops along with mermaid crowns, accessories and monofins in her home closet.
Little girls all around the world dream of becoming a mermaid, but only a very few make that a reality. Even fewer are able to parlay that love of the mythical sirens into a thriving business venture.
Brandee Anthony — known as the Vero Beach Mermaid — has over 2.5 million followers and over 75 million video views on her social media pages. The professional mermaid and freediver is also a professional photographer, content creator and merchandiser.
“I love mermaids,” said Anthony. “I still have my little Ariel mermaid towel from 1991 because that movie had just come out. But when I was a kid, there wasn’t a lot of mermaid lore like there is now. But I loved sea creatures and I always pretended to be a dolphin. I was a full-fledged dolphin until I was an adult and moved back to Florida 11 years ago.”
Anthony was already a fairly well known underwater photographer on a live stream app called Periscope which was later bought by Twitter and no longer exists.
“I wanted to ‘go live’ underwater because nobody was doing that, but I wanted a hook to make it more interesting,” she explained. “I decided to become a mermaid, bought a mermaid tail and a GoPro, and made it happen. The moment I put on the tail and monofin, I was obsessed and totally in love. It felt so natural. Within a week after I put on that tail, I became the Vero Beach Mermaid and started my business. That was 9 years ago.
“I still perform at events and parties, but not as often as I used to when I was younger. I’m more on the business end of mermaiding now, so I run a full-scale dive company with my fiancé called Mermaid Freedive. We teach PADA Mermaid and PADI Freedive courses, as well as instructor courses. “We are both rescue divers and I’m working on my diver master certification. I can hold my breath for about two and a half minutes, free dive maskless comfortably up to about 80 feet and up to about 60 feet with my mermaid tail on. My fiancé can hold his breath up to five minutes.”
Anthony teaches and certifies people of all ages to become mermaids and freedivers. She is nationally recognized as the first pro mermaid to be a PADI Ambassadiver and is part of the PADI Mermaid team, which developed the mermaid program. She is also a proud Finfolk Productions ambassador and performs with Wands & Wishes Mermaids in aquariums. In addition to mermaid training, Anthony offers business consulting, photoshoots, appearances, modeling, promotion, underwater coaching, and social media management. She also teaches acroyoga — a combination of acrobatics yoga — and is a certified hypnotherapist.
RETREATS & SUMMITS
Mermaids are whimsical and beautiful even out of the water.
“The biggest thing we do is we hold mermaid retreats all over the world, and in the Florida springs,” Anthony explained. “I wanted to start an event that celebrated the whole culture and community so we started hosting three and four day retreats, offering PADI mermaid and freedive courses, acroyoga, breathwork, business mentoring, photoshoots and community time. We’ve got one scheduled in Fort White on April 11-14, and retreats in the Channel islands in California and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, later this year.”
“I also created a summit, which happens every year and, of course, I hold it in Vero Beach because that’s where I got my start. The three-day event celebrates the community of certified mermaids in a fun and creative way that makes a difference while supporting conservation. We bring in mermaids from all over the world and this year we have a very special guest: Mermaid Zandi from South Africa, along with some other very cool characters. We’ll have the gala at the Heritage Center and we’ll use the North County Pool for pool day, and head down to Fort Pierce Inlet for beach cleanup and mermaid day because the rocks are so beautiful for photos. This year’s event will be held Mother’s Day weekend.”
As a resident mermaid at the Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa and Hilton West Palm Beach, Anthony often gets calls from guests to schedule an appearance or to teach their kids how to “mermaid.”
Anthony estimates her mermaid costume collection is worth around $100,000. “I own 43 tails, and about 40 tops. The fabric tails run anywhere from $400 to $500 apiece and the silicone tails start at $6,000 apiece. Tops run anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a thousand dollars each, and then there’s the crowns, accessories and monofins.”
DRY-LAND DONATIONS
Anthony used her mermaid fame and her social media platform to help victims of the local tornadoes last year — she raised over $7000 in just three days to buy food and supplies for those impacted by the storm.
“We felt the tornado go over our house but fortunately it didn’t sustain any damage,” she said. “But I saw what happened in Lakewood Park and couldn’t just go back to my life without helping. I stocked our van with coffee and snacks, and just went out into the thick of it. That one day turned into five and donations started pouring in, so we just went with it. We made trips to Sam’s and loaded up on hot meals and supplies and drove through devastated neighborhoods handing out whatever was needed. We also gave money to boots-on-the-ground groups who needed more chainsaws and things like that. We dispersed it wherever we could make the most impact.”
It was all about helping to spread the kind of joy she finds in her underwater profession.
“Mermaiding is a very whimsical, inclusive culture that allows your inner child to just play and express at any age,” Anthony concluded. “You don’t have to put a tail on to be a mermaid. I think your embodiment of loving water does that. It just helps you solidify that inner sea life in you. And it’s fun to keep the magic alive.”
To learn more about Anthony’s mermaid endeavors and scheduled classes and retreats, visit verobeachmermaid.com or mermaidfreedive.com.
Anthony and her fiancé are also professional underwater photographers skilled at capturing magical moments beneath the surface.
BRANDEE ANTHONY
Lives In: Vero Beach, Florida
Age: 34
Family: Fiancé, pets and plants
Education: Bachelor’s degree in multimedia design
Hobbies: Gardening
What inspires you: “The environment — the earth, the water, the wind.”
Something most people don’t know about you: “Even though I was born in Florida and I’m a child of the ocean, I was raised in Wisconsin for 20 years and learned to swim in a freshwater lake.”
