Be part of a mermaid's world on Genting Dream
Environmentalist Katrin Gray will be hosting Mermaid Academy on the ship
Passengers on board the Genting Dream at the end of the month may get the opportunity to hang out with a "mermaid" while on the high seas.
Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, Mermaid Kat - whose real name is Ms Katrin Gray - will be hosting an exclusive Mermaid Academy from May 25 to June 8.
As part of the programme, she will conduct several talks about her experience as a full-time mermaid and hold a demonstration at the cruise ship's main pool.
This is the third time the Perth-based certified mermaid instructor has collaborated with Hong Kong cruise line Dream Cruises, and Ms Gray is excited to make a splash.
The German-born 32-year-old told The New Paper in an e-mail interview: "After working on dive boats for several years, I thought it was an exciting opportunity to work on such an amazing ship and with such a wonderful company."
For $59, guests who pass a swimming test can join Ms Gray in a mermaid workshop, where they will be able to wear tails made of silicone and swim with her in the pool.
She said: "The classes are a big highlight for the guests, and they are also a highlight for me as a teacher."
More than that, the passionate environmentalist feels the Mermaid Academy allows her to spread her message of marine conservation to an audience of thousands.
Ms Gray is "grateful" for the opportunity to create awareness and educate children and adults alike sailing with Dream Cruises on how small, individual actions such as curbing the use of single-use plastics can help save the oceans.
"Every day should be World Environment Day. We have only one earth, there is no other planet for us to move to once this one is completely destroyed," she said.
OCEAN AMBASSADORS
Ms Gray, who first discovered her love for mermaids at the age of five while watching The Little Mermaid, added that inspiring people to become ocean ambassadors is one of the greatest perks of her job.
Shortly after she was crowned Miss Germany International 2006, Ms Gray founded a shark-saving organisation in Germany though she had no diving experience.
She then became a professional scuba diving instructor and underwater model, and opened her first mermaid school in Germany in 2012.
She now runs three schools in Germany and one in Australia, with three more opening this year.
To date, she has taught more than 6,000 students across 10 different countries.
She can free dive (underwater diving that relies on the person's ability to hold his breath) up to a depth of 20m with her mermaid tail and travels the globe to swim in the open oceans alongside dolphins, turtles, rays, whales and sharks.
A strict vegetarian since she was young, Ms Gray said her drive to defend the seas stemmed from being underwater so often.
"Reefs that are completely destroyed, fish swimming around with fishing hooks pierced through their mouths and animals tangled up in trash are just a few of the many things I am confronted with regularly.
"I love all animals and want to give them a voice," she said.
Looking forward, Ms Gray hopes the public will be impacted by her passion for marine life.
"I hope this inspires them to be more conscious about the environment, one cruise at a time," she said.
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