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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021
Going under the sea in mermaid museum
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
The Pacifi c Northwest might seem like
an unlikely place for mermaids and mer-
maid culture to catch on given the cold water
here. Yet putting on an eye-catching tail and
pretending to be a mythical sea being is a
thing across the Northwest. There’s even
a brand new mermaid museum near Aber-
deen, Washington.
The museum’s grand opening last week
accounted for multiple mermaid sightings in
Grays Harbor County on the central Wash-
ington state coast. One was spotted playing
a harp. People observed another with a gray
and white tail reclining on a mermaid throne.
Yet another appeared at a book signing.
The liveliest mermaid twirled in front of
the underwater viewing window of a trav-
eling show tank painted in turn-of-the-cen-
tury circus wagon style. The tank belonged
to Una the Mermaid, a 41-year-old profes-
sional entertainer from Portland.
“There is something magical about
the silence of being underwater,” Una
said during a break from swimming in the
90-degree water of the converted dunk tank.
“Then hearing music and then seeing lit-
tle ones approach and getting excited. I just
love that. I love that magic. I like making
people happy.”
A steady stream of parents and children
bubbled with delight when the half-human-
half fi sh creature periodically reached over
the lip of her tank to give gifts of sea shells.
Una inhabited her mermaid role so thor-
oughly, she declined to give her “Muggle”
or human name.
Una said she missed out on some of her
childhood because of abuse. She said she
took on the mermaid identity around 2012 in
part to connect with her daughter in a playful
and imaginative way.
“Also, (it was) a journey of how I found
my own personal healing as a survivor of
family trauma and violence,” Una said.
“And reconnecting with one’s inner child
and helping others to reconnect with that as
well. That’s a big part of who I am and why
I do what I do.”
The grand opening of the International
Mermaid Museum near Aberdeen provided
an occasion for many mermaids to gather.
Una said a grouping is called a “pod,” as
with whales. An aggregation of mermaids
can also be called a “gossip,” by some
accounts. The Portland area is home to sev-
eral pods whose following has grown suffi -
ciently to stage the annual Portlandia Mer-
maid Parade in summers since 2015.
Seattle, Spokane and Vancouver, Canada,
also have sizable pods. The merfolk include
men and women and welcome all body
Tom Banse/Northwest News Network
From left, mermaid Siren Ophelia, of Seattle, mermaid Asherah and mermaid Merina, both of
Portland, at the opening of the new International Mermaid Museum near Aberdeen.
‘I LOVE BEING A MERMAID. IT’S SO MUCH FUN
TO SEE PEOPLE’S EYES LIGHT UP WHEN YOU
COME INTO A ROOM AND STUFF LIKE THAT. IT’S
THE MOST FUN THING YOU CAN DO. IF YOU’RE
FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION, I MEAN YOU’RE NOT
REALLY WORKING. IT’S NEVER WORK.’
Aura Stiers | performance artist
types. Some people splash into mermaiding
as a hobby or for exercise. Others make it a
side gig by hiring themselves out for birth-
day parties, events and photo ops.
The museum is a project of the Roberts
family, which also built the Westport Winery
Garden Resort. The museum is located next
to the winery about halfway between Aber-
deen and the coastal beaches.
Museum founder Kim Roberts said she
heard the siren’s call after undergoing can-
cer treatment.
“Four years ago, it started to matter to
me what I was leaving,” Roberts said. “We
didn’t know if I would still be here today.
This is my thing, this is my legacy.”
A family friend’s donation of a mas-
sive shell collection got the ball rolling.
The museum displays feature lots of mer-
maid mannequins. There is also a World War
II dive helmet used at Pearl Harbor and a
300-year-old wooden carousel carving of a
mermaid.
Roberts said there’s a point here besides
conveying mermaid lore. She wants each
exhibit to teach ocean ecology, too.
“The mermaids are the spoonful of sugar
to make the medicine go down,” Roberts
said after the ribbon cutting. “Because if we
just built an ocean ecology museum, I’m not
sure it would have as much interest as a mer-
maid museum. But we can tell both of those
stories together.”
Admission to the new museum is free
during the month of April, if not longer. For
visitors intrigued by mermaiding, the next
to last display alcove includes information
about how to join the scene. Key pieces
of advice include how to choose the right
monofi n and to never swim and dive alone.
After conversing with the professional
mermaids at the museum opening, Shelton,
Washington, mother Rochelle Freeman said
she came away inspired to plunge in.
“As a kid I always imagined myself as
an ocean creature,” Freeman said. “I got my
fi rst monofi n last year. I made my own mer-
maid tail at home. So, that’s been really fun
and a cool way for me to express my artistic
side during all this COVID stuff going on.”
Freeman says she was introduced to mer-
maiding by YouTube videos.
“I’ve just been seeing it online. So to
actually meet ladies doing it all the time and
actually seeing it as a reality is really awe-
some,” Freeman said.
The museum opening also off ered a
showcase for another pandemic project,
the book release event for “Mermaid —
A Dream Made Real” by Aura Stiers of
Poulsbo, Washington. The performance art-
ist made for an unusual sight among many
arresting sights with her large, bright orange
tail poking out from under a table arranged
with a stack of picture books ready to sell
and sign.
“I love being a mermaid,” Stiers said.
“It’s so much fun to see people’s eyes light
up when you come into a room and stuff
like that. It’s the most fun thing you can do.
If you’re following your passion, I mean
you’re not really working. It’s never work.”
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