Bermagui resident, arts patron and founder of the Umbrellas of Bermagui, Dennis Olmstead and his fellow morning swimmers were pleasantly surprised to be sharing their Blue Pools swimming spot with a mermaid one day last week.

It turned out to be Jaime the Mermaid, a Narooma High School graduate and now professional mermaid living in Melbourne.

Jaime has also been swimming at other spots on her holiday including Cuttagee Beach and Camel Rock also in the Bermagui area, and also further south at Merimbula and Eden. 

Jaime Tulau, 23, grew up on the Far South Coast and graduated from Narooma High School in 2010. After leaving, she attended university in Queensland and Melbourne, where she attained a Bachelor of Music at QUT and then an honours degree in music at RMIT.

She has now finished her studies and continues to work in aquatics as she has for the last six years being a lifeguard and swimming teacher. Always a ‘water baby’, she loved water since a small child, so becoming a mermaid seemed natural.

Jaime always dreamed of becoming a mermaid and her grandmother made her first mermaid tail when she was just a little girl.

“Being a mermaid has been a life-long dream but little did I know it would become a lifestyle choice and possibly a career,” she said.

He latest venture is a running her own business as an entertainer and professional mermaid doing birthday parties and other events.

Jaime the Mermaid has proved quite popular and she has a few bookings for children’s parties later this year and is even working on getting a gig swimming at an aquarium.

“Parents are always looking for something new for their kids’ parties so there has been quite a bit of interest,” she said. “I really enjoy working with kids as that is what I do as a swimming teacher and coach.”

Her mother Ali Bridle still lives just south of Narooma and so Jaime comes up to the Far South Coast every chance she gets and mostly during school holidays when she gets time off from her pool jobs.

“It certainly is a beautiful part of the world, its waters perfect for a mermaid,” she said.