As the curtain rises and young voices fill the air with gasps of wonder, a new form of performing art takes shape. In myth, mermaids have always appeared in shadowy corners — hauntingly beautiful, graceful, and arresting — capable of making sailors lose their sense of direction in an instant. Is the mermaid the shattering of a childhood dream, or the continuation of a child's imagination? Farglory Ocean Park in Hualien has launched a mermaid series at its Ocean Discovery Hall, giving visitors of all ages a glimpse into the mysterious legend of the mermaid. We sat down with XiaoLu — founder of the YellowFish Studio and one of the pioneers of mermaid performance in Taiwan — to hear about the many different kinds of change she has witnessed through her own eyes.
Photo credit: Mermaid performer Xiaolu
From Mermaid Instructor to Performance Artist: A Shift in Mindset
If you caught the Taiwanese underwater reality show Battle on the Underwater Runway, you may already recognise this confident, golden-haired contestant — Xiaolu. After travelling to China in 2019 to obtain her SSI (certification agency) mermaid instructor certification, she began pitching proposals to Farglory Ocean Park, hoping to bring mermaid performances into its dream-like aquarium tanks. Previously working as a microbiology specialist at Taiwan Toyo Pharmaceutical, Xiaolu made a bold move in 2020: she applied for an unpaid leave of absence and signed up for Taiwan's first underwater reality show, Battle on the Underwater Runway. That three-month experience proved to be the pivotal moment that launched her career in mermaid performance art.
Why Farglory Ocean Park specifically? The connection traces back to Xiaolu's university days, when she worked a part-time job there — scrubbing algae as a scuba diving work-study student. Humble as it was, that job gave her an intimate understanding of the venue, which later made it possible for her to engage in sustained dialogue and discussion with park management. Perhaps all those early efforts finally paid off: in 2021, she successfully brought professional mermaid performance art into the ocean park. That same year, Xiaolu left her pharmaceutical job and began performing full-time at Farglory Ocean Park from November onward. This full-time career was no accident — it was the result of relentless, cumulative effort.
Xiaolu: "If people simply say I'm talented or lucky, it makes me feel as though I haven't worked hard at all. How much effort does it take before you become truly capable? The footprints that no one sees don't cease to exist — on the contrary, it is precisely because of those accumulated footprints that we are able to stand where we are today."
Photo credit: Mermaid performer Xiaolu
Freediving Is Not the Same as Mermaid Performance
Xiaolu's journey took her from scuba diving to freediving, and along the way she developed a deep love for the dolphin kick. She discovered mermaid courses in 2017, which confirmed her passion for mermaid performance and became the next chapter of her dream. In mermaid performance art, dynamic expression is everything — movements must be slow, beautiful, and elegant, projecting an air of effortless ease, as though the performer were born to live underwater. The biggest difference between mermaid performance and freediving lies in their core principles: freediving prioritises efficiency and energy conservation, while mermaid tail equipment offers limited propulsion and adds weight, demanding rhythmic, flowing lines rather than high-speed hydrodynamics — an approach almost entirely opposite to what freediving strives for.
Through this mermaid showcase, Xiaolu also came to understand the difference between recreational mermaiding and professional mermaid performance. During a live performance, a mermaid must propel herself with great effort, express herself with both legs bound together, control her hair as it flows through the water, manage without a mask, blow bubbles to interact with the audience, and maintain stability in duet and group formations — all of it unfolding live before the audience, with no chance to call "cut" and start over.
Photo credit: Mermaid performer Xiaolu
Wait — Is That a Second Mermaid Joining the Act?
Farglory Ocean Park imported three manatees — known as the "mermaids" of the animal kingdom — from Ivory Coast in West Africa. Transported by land and air across approximately 20,921 kilometres over nearly 70 hours, the animals finally arrived in Hualien (further reading). Manatees carry a mysterious legend of their own: subsisting mainly on seagrass and algae, they breathe with lungs just as humans do, can hold their breath underwater for up to 7 minutes, and need only 3 seconds to surface and breathe again. It is this very habit that is said to have given rise to mermaid legends among lonely sailors at sea — imagine a manatee surfacing with seaweed draped over its head, and you can see why it might be mistaken for a long-haired beauty.
As the mermaid performers increased their rehearsals, the young manatee — affectionately called Xiaoniu ("Little Calf") — quietly began imitating their swimming style. Not only did his repertoire of movements grow, but he occasionally treated onlookers to two consecutive spinning rolls, showing off his star-student abilities. These days, Xiaoniu leaves the pool bottom to glide freely through the water, and sometimes even joins the mermaid performers in their formation.
Beyond joining the performance lineup, Xiaoniu has taken on the role of swimming coach. During rehearsals, when the mermaid performers practice swimming up and down along the baseline, Xiaoniu will swim across horizontally, demonstrating the correct technique for following the guide rope. Before performances begin, when the mermaids are doing their poolside preparations, Xiaoniu will set down his food, slow his pace, and cruise along the pool's edge on patrol — like a seasoned floor manager reminding the mermaid princesses that showtime is almost here. Xiaoniu is clearly happier and more energetic than before: he eagerly joins the mermaids' training sessions and regularly makes surprise appearances during performances.
A Shift in the Curator's Operational Mindset
Facing a diversity of opinions is something any large organisation must contend with, and satisfying different needs simultaneously is an even greater challenge. The 2019 mermaid performance proposal hit that wall — some stakeholders opposed having performers enter the tanks, fearing it might disturb the fish or frighten other animals. Mermaid performance has developed more slowly in Taiwan than elsewhere; most people were unfamiliar with the concept, and there were few aquariums or large tanks where performances could feasibly take place. With no concrete body of work to show, Xiaolu could only provide foreign performance videos as reference material for her Farglory pitch. So why did the park finally give the green light last year? Faced with the compounding pressures of COVID-19 disruptions and programming needs, Farglory chose to embrace new ideas. Environmental themes and beach cleanup messaging were woven into the performance scripts, steering the park's programming in a more innovative direction and using entertainment as a vehicle to deepen public understanding of the ocean.
Photo credit: Farglory Ocean Park official website
The team tried weaving marine conservation segments into the performance — bringing a dry, serious topic to the public through entertainment, and reshaping the way people think about the ocean.
During the pre-opening review of the Ocean Discovery Hall's "Mysterious Mermaid Legend" public performance in 2021, the first piece of feedback from management lifted a huge weight off Xiaolu's shoulders. The director said: "Thank you for bringing Xiaoniu back to life. We haven't seen him this excited in a long time — he looks genuinely happy." The keepers also reported that human activity in the tank appeared to have no negative impact on the manatee, and the veterinarian who reviewed the footage raised no concerns about the manatee displaying any negative emotional response to the mermaid performances.
In addition to the existing mermaid performances, Farglory Ocean Park launched a new "Kiss a Mermaid Experience" activity on 1 April 2022, giving visitors of all ages the chance to dress up as mermaids. Xiaolu's dream continues to unfold, the mermaid legend remains very much alive — and best of all, children watching the performances cry out in delight: "Mermaids are real! Manatees are mermaids too! I want to be a mermaid someday!"
Photo credit: Farglory Ocean Park official website
Manatee Quick Facts (Source: Farglory Ocean Park official website)
Photo credit: Farglory Ocean Park official website
Manatees belong to the class Mammalia, order Sirenia, family Trichechidae. The West African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) is primarily distributed along the west coast of Africa. Its main diet consists of seagrass and algae, making it the only vegetarian among marine mammals!
Manatees breathe with lungs just as humans do. They can hold their breath for up to 7 minutes underwater and need only 3 seconds to surface and breathe. This behaviour is believed to be the origin of mermaid legends among sailors who spent long, lonely years at sea — imagine a manatee surfacing with seagrass draped over its head, and you can see why it might look like a long-haired beauty! Although manatees must surface to breathe every 7 minutes, they still sleep on the seafloor — each sleep session lasting around 25 minutes, with up to 12 hours of sleep per day!
Male and female manatees are primarily distinguished by the presence of nipples: only females have mammary glands, with nipples located beneath the flippers, roughly equivalent to the armpit region in humans. When nursing, the mother holds her calf in her flippers, much like a human mother cradling a baby. Like humans, manatees are viviparous and give birth to a single calf, with a gestation period of approximately 12 to 14 months.
Farglory Ocean Park's resident manatee is named Xiaoniu. His favourite hobbies are sleeping and spinning half-circles, and he has a particular fondness for sweet potato and broccoli. The next time you see him putting on a show, don't forget to give him a big round of applause!
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