'Real-life' mermaid swims with tiger sharks to promote conservation

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Real-Life Mermaid Swims With Tiger Sharks To Promote Conservation
Real-Life Mermaid Swims With Tiger Sharks To Promote Conservation


You could call her a professional mermaid of sorts. One woman risked her life to swim with some of the most dangerous sea creatures in the world.



Dressed in only a tiny costume with no diving gear whatsoever, ABC reports 38-year-old Hannah Fraser dove 25 feet underwater off the coast of the Bahamas to dance with tiger sharks on the ocean floor.

Fraser's shark dance was filmed for "Tears of a Mermaid," a documentary featuring Fraser and award-winning cinematographer Shawn Heinrichs that stresses the importance of shark conservation.

SHAWN HEINRICHS: "The idea of the project is to take Hannah, take her and put her in a position where she can show a human connection, a really close human connection."

HANNAH FRASER: "It's easy to connect with a happy dolphin. This is not easy. But it's necessary."

Not easy is right. Fraser, who lives in Los Angeles, even reportedly said goodbye to her family before the shoot just in case she didn't make it back alive.

Metro quotes her as saying, "I was feeling very anxious the first time I got into the water. The most important aspect was knowing how their minds worked, finding out what triggered them to use their mouths and teeth to inspect or react to situations."

Tears of a Mermaid - On Location: "Tigress" Tiger Shark Shoot, The Bahamas from NINETEEN87 on Vimeo.

But she's done performances like this dozens of times. According to her website, Fraser is a professional underwater mermaid who swims with sharks, dolphins, whales and more to "bring awareness to the ocean and it's precious animal life."

She even has a mermaid tail that she wears during performances, like in this video posted to her YouTube account. She had to leave it behind during this latest venture with the tiger sharks for her own safety.

According to National Geographic, tiger sharks are some of the most dangerous sharks known to man - they're fierce predators that will eat just about anything.

As International Business Times reports, the sharks have been threatened by fishing for years, but they're now also being culled, or captured and killed, after attacking swimmers in Australia.

Despite their dangerous nature, Fraser told ABC humans shouldn't fear tiger sharks or any other sea creatures, and that they deserve our protection.

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