{"id":11802,"date":"2016-11-09T07:30:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T06:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/petitesbullesdailleurs\/?p=11802"},"modified":"2024-09-28T20:06:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T18:06:40","slug":"sirene-exocet-mer-rouge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/en\/sirene-exocet-mer-rouge-20161109\/","title":{"rendered":"I met a mermaid"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first thing I spot when I step on the deck of the boat. A mermaid's tail, lying there between two diving bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A mermaid's tail on the bridge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I bend over to feel the object. It's supple and massive at the same time. The tail is yellow and blue, silicone, zebra-striped and bristling with tiny fins. I lift the tail a little. It's heavy. I later learn that the tail weighs 12 kg!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"You share your cabin with Cindy, it's hers, the mermaid's tail\", I learn. Phil Simha<\/a>who welcomes me on board theExocet<\/em><\/a>moored in the marina of Hurghada, Egypt. A professional underwater photographer, diving and freediving instructor, he is the instigator of this week-long diving cruise in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tells me no more. It's late, past midnight. My cabin mate, who arrived earlier in the day, is already asleep. I wrestle with the doorknob, slipping into my bunk as quietly as possible. I'd hate to wake up a siren... \u263a\ufe0f We'll get to know each other the next day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Some<\/a>
Some of them get into the water with compressed air bottles, others with a mermaid tail... (Red Sea, cruise on theExocet<\/em>, October 2016.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Cindy<\/a>
Cindy drops her mermaid tail on the deck (Red Sea, Exocet cruise, October 2016.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back to the Red Sea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That's right. This October 2016, here I am in Egypt for a \"photo and freediving\" themed diving cruise. With a mermaid on board. But I didn't know that when I made my reservation, at the last minute, learning that there was one last place available a few days before departure...<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the rest, I knew pretty much what to expect: transparent water at 28\u00b0C, just a four-five hour flight from Paris. The idea of being surrounded by diver-photographers like myself, and the presence of freediving friends (R\u00e9my and Audrey from Blue Addiction<\/a>) were enough to convince me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The cruise lasts six days and takes us to famous dive sites in the Red Sea: Hurghada, Ras Mohammed and other sites in the North, Brothers Islands, Safaga... (Egypt, October 2016)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Besides, I don't know the Red Sea very well. My only dives there, before this new trip, dated back to November 2011<\/a> (it was also with photographers from the Forum of the photo-sub<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know, I'm very late with my stories, I haven't finished recounting my 2016 dives in Indonesia (Komodo and Raja Ampat<\/a> in July, Triton Bay<\/a> in March). The posts to come between now and the end of the year will therefore be a jumble from the Red Sea and Indonesia, but never mind the chronology! It's not every day you get the chance to photograph and film a mermaid underwater. I can't resist the pleasure of showing you a few images... \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siren, it's a job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The mermaiding<\/em> or sirenism, is a new and fashionable sporting pastime, and also a profession. It's an amusing coincidence that my canard has devoted a fine portrait to the subject. to a professional siren<\/a>ten days before I met Cindy !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mermaiding involves freediving with your legs tucked into a fish tail - gracefully, of course. Cindy is Swiss, in her thirties, and teaches mermaiding. mermaiding<\/em> to adults and children in Neuch\u00e2tel (more info on its website M\u00e9tisph\u00e8re<\/a>). She acted as a model in the Red Sea for us photographers. I'll let you discover what it's all about, with the short video below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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