Hannah Fraser Mermaid on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Hannah Fraser Mermaid shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Recently, I felt proud of giving my talk at Ocean Bloom. Public speaking still rattles me, and memorizing a tight five-minute talk is far harder for me than speaking freely for an hour. I was nervous, surrounded by peers I deeply respect – musicians, conservationists, and friends whose work I admire – and I wanted to show up with clarity and professionalism. Standing there, sharing a message shaped by the ocean and delivered with intention, felt like meeting fear with integrity and rising to the moment anyway. I have always been committed to diving in the deep end of my fears and this felt like a big one.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Hannah, a mermaid performer, ocean advocate, and the founder of the Siren Sanctuary, a retreat space in Costa Rica devoted to reconnection through the sea.

My work lives at the intersection of art, embodiment, and conservation. Through underwater performance, storytelling, and lived experience with wild ocean beings, I explore the idea that nature is not something we observe, but something we belong to.

As a real-life mermaid, I create underwater encounters with animals not as spectacle, but as teachers, translating those experiences into talks, retreats, films, and writing, including my book Servant of the Sea. My approach is not about fantasy as escape, but about using beauty and vulnerability to dissolve fear, challenge separation, and invite deeper responsibility for the living ocean we all depend on.

I have spent more than two decades pioneering underwater performance as a tool for conservation. I was one of the activists featured in the Academy Award-winning film The Cove, and my short film Manta’s Last Dance helped bring global attention and legal protection to manta rays.

Through breath-hold diving and open-ocean work with sharks, whales, rays, and other marine life, I create imagery shared worldwide that helps shift public perception from fear to reverence. I also teach underwater workshops and retreats internationally, sharing the skills, stories, and ethics of entering wild ecosystems with respect, presence, and humility.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What breaks bonds between people is the same thing that creates fear in the ocean – stories we’ve been taught, distance from direct experience, and reacting before we’re present. I see it underwater all the time. When I rush in with tension, the animals disappear. When I slow down, soften, and listen with my body, connection becomes possible. Humans aren’t that different. We lose each other when we lead with fear and assumptions, and we find each other again when we show up like guests in a shared environment. Being a mermaid has taught me that trust isn’t forced – it’s earned through presence.

When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
When I was scared and shy as a child, what helped was deciding not to let fear choose my life for me. I was quiet and shy, and relating with the world often felt overwhelming, so I made a promise to practice courage instead of waiting for confidence to arrive. I started doing one small thing each day that challenged me, letting myself be seen, speaking honestly, stepping toward the unknown. That practice followed me into the ocean years later, especially with sharks. I grew up afraid of them like everyone else, shaped by stories and movies. But when I finally met them in their world, I realized my fear wasn’t about the animal, it was about the story I’d been told. Facing sharks taught me the same lesson I learned as a child: fear shrinks when you meet it with curiosity, presence, and respect, and on the other side of it is a deeper sense of power, connection, and belonging.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I’m committed to the belief that kindness toward animals and the natural world is inseparable from how we treat each other. No matter how long it takes, my work is about dissolving the idea that humans are separate or superior, and replacing it with lived experiences of connection. Whether I’m swimming with sharks, teaching in the water, or speaking on land, the goal is the same: to help people feel that the ocean, the animals, and each other are not abstractions, but relatives. When that shift happens, even briefly, compassion stops being a concept and becomes a reflex. That’s the work I’ll keep showing up for.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they say I helped people remember that we belong to this world, not above it. That I used beauty, courage, and curiosity to turn fear into connection, especially toward the ocean and the animals that are so often misunderstood. I’d like them to say I led with respect, crossed boundaries with humility, and left things gentler than I found them, reminding people that caring deeply is not weakness, it’s how we keep life going. I hope to be remembered as a beacon of creativity, feminine empowerment and freedom of expression.

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