Meet the woman who makes $300-an-hour as a professional mermaid - who can hold her breath for three minutes underwater and says her tail feels like a "second skin".<br /><br />Felicia Flaherty, 28, has been modelling in ad campaigns and performing in aquariums and tanks at parties as a mermaid for four years.<br /><br />She is part of a growing community of mermaids and mermen who are either professionals or just do it to socialise and get active - and can even hold her breath for three-and-a-half minutes.<br /><br />She wears an ultra-realistic $3,300 silicone tail when she performs and says "business is booming" since the release of Disney's 'Little Mermaid' remake.<br /><br />Before she was a mermaid she was a full-time model and actress, and the face of major hair salon chains in the US. <br /><br />She did TV commercials and runway shows, but has also worked as a lifeguard and swimming teacher for toddlers. <br /><br />Felicia, from Tampa, Florida, US, said: “I love being a professional mermaid because of the joy I bring to others and share with others. <br /><br />“The wonder, awe, and inspiration I share through the performance art of being a mermaid or shooting underwater is unlike anything else I have experienced.”<br /><br />“When I swim normally it feels like something is missing - like I’m not going anywhere.<br /><br />“Anybody can be a mermaid, no matter who they are. My tail feels like my second skin.”<br /><br />Felicia has modelled and acted since her late teens and was in the swim team at school.<br /><br />She became a certified scuba and a free diver in 2018, before landing the part in an underwater commercial for a mattress company in July 2018.<br /><br />She said: “It was my first time performing underwater, combining my two passions. I was instantly obsessed.<br /><br />“Everything I had done up to that point in my life led to that, and from then on I started looking for ways to act and perform in the water.”<br /><br />Now Felicia is a full-time mermaid, doing performances and photoshoots - including one shoot at a shipwreck 90 feet underwater.<br /><br />When she performs, she said the reactions are “amazing” from people of all ages.<br /><br />She said: “The best is when mermaids blow ‘bubble kisses’ against the side of the tank or aquarium.<br /><br />“It creates a perfect circle and kids usually jump up and down in delight and surprise, and some even blow kisses back. It’s very sweet.”<br /><br />Felicia added: “It is definitely not comfortable and takes a lot of practice to look comfortable underwater.<br /><br />“I don’t use any equipment other than my two lungs, and water can go up your nose and hurt your eyes.<br /><br />“People are always intrigued when I tell them about my job. But luckily, I haven’t had any bad reactions yet - at least not to my face.”<br /><br />Follow Felicia @FeliciaWithFins.
