Halifax, NS:

Halifax mermaid entrepreneur Raina has successfully published her third book,  The Fishy Business Handbook for Mermaids.  It is the third in a trilogy of Fishy Business books that takes a candid look at trailblazing in the ‘edutainment’ field. The Halifax Mermaid hopes to empower other small businesses, performers, and educators, by sharing practical knowledge, fishy experiences, as well as looking at the 100 year history of professional mermaid work.

The Fishy Business Handbook provides a practical workbook that helps readers build on their own knowledge, identify their skills, and create a functioning business plan for niche markets. It also contains survey results on a variety of industry topics from hundreds of professional merfolk around the world. Raina had the privilege of interviewing Oscar winning special effects artists Robert Short, known for his work on films such as Beetlejuice, ET, and Star Trek. Short created a functioning mermaid tail for the 1984 romantic comedy Splash, featuring a young Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks. Raina also tells the story of Annette Kellerman- the Million Dollar Mermaid- who performed in aquariums as a mermaid over 100 years ago. Kellerman was famous for essentially creating water ballet, and was portrayed by Esther Williams in a biopic about her life.  Finally, Raina speaks to the importance of ocean literacy and activism in hopes of continuing the Canadian Mermaid tradition of empowering others toward caring for their environment. The Halifax Mermaids will be seen in many public events across the Maritime Provinces this summer, including multiple charity and ecology events.

Mermaid work is creating an international wave, especially for young women. The Halifax Mermaid team, known globally as Canadian Mermaids, recently expanded their services to include a local mermaid school, and the merchandising and selling of monofins for children. Through her previous books Raina has toured several states giving workshops and professional development seminars for other performers and educators that want to work with children in a similar capacity. The Halifax Mermaid plans to visit North Carolina to run business and safety workshops for visiting merfolk and entertainer/educators from all across the globe.  Raina has been instrumental in influencing safety standards both industry wide, and at pools across the world. Halifax Mermaids have also recently participated in an engineering study involving the movements of their prosthetic tails at Dalhousie University. The mermaids got to utilize the Aquatron research aquarium in the Steele Ocean Sciences building and work with a “fin”tastic team of engineers.
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Raina is known as Stephanie Brown in her human form, and has a degree in child and youth development and a degree in education obtained from Mount Saint Vincent University. The Halifax Mermaids were a 2015 recipient of the ADP Small Business award for their commitment to their community and the environment. Raina’s books are print on demand and also available digitally to help save paper. They can be purchased through her website www.makemeamermaid.com

​MERMAID SWIM SCHOOL OPENS IN DARTMOUTH
Weekly classes being held to promote safe mermaid fin swimming in kids.

Dartmouth, NS: The award winning company Halifax Mermaids are swimming into Dartmouth Sportsplex for a weekly mermaid school starting April 6th 2016. 

A Day with a Mermaid: Halifax Mermaids empower young girls at PotashCorp Civic Centre
Workshops being held for young girls to empower them toward physical fitness and safe monofin/mermaid tail swimming.


Sussex, NB: The award winning Halifax Mermaids are swimming into Sussex for the second annual Girl’s Empowerment Workshop: Swim with a Mermaid at the PotashCorp Civic Centre this weekend January 16th and 17th 2016. 
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​                       Halifax Mermaids Attend World’s Largest International Mermaid Convention
NC Mermania attracts over 300 mermaid and merman performers including famed Halifax Mermaids
 
Greensboro, NC:  Local award winning edutainment company Halifax Mermaids were recently invited to participate in the world’s largest gathering of performing mermaids: Mermania. Based in North Carolina, the event attracted over 300 professional and recreational mermaids and mermen of all ages from all over the world.