Meet the merpeople: Once I put the tail on, my life was changed forever'

"Propelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but a professional mermaid's free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration. Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in pods to practise their dolphin kicks."

"Phuket is quite a small island and it didn't take too long for people to notice a crazy girl swimming around in a mermaid tail, she says. People asked her to perform at birthday parties and public events, and soon after she was working as a mermaid full-time. It just took off. In 2012, Gray founded the world's first mermaid school. Since then, more than 12,000 students have attended her classes and workshops in Germany, Thailand and Australia."

"No dead mermaids, is the motto of one business featured. Mermeow Awn, real name Mongplearn Uttama, who says mermaiding has been a lifeline' for her. Photograph: Mermeow Awn Gray, who goes by Mermaid Kat, is an industry veteran. While working as a scuba diving instructor in Phuket, a childhood obsession with Disney's Little Mermaid led to her asking a wetsuit maker to fashion a cover for"

Katrin Gray performs professionally as Mermaid Kat, using a silicon tail and refined free-diving technique. Mermaiding requires rigorous training, practice, safety awareness and concentration. The activity has expanded into a global cottage industry with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups where participants practise dolphin kicks and surface skills. Craftspeople produce bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills. A Netflix series, MerPeople, follows aspiring professional merfolk. Gray founded the first mermaid school in 2012, and more than 12,000 students have attended classes and workshops across Germany, Thailand and Australia.

Read at www.theguardian.com