Weeki Wachee looks for new mermaids

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Florida state park is looking for new mermaids. Or at least humans who can pretend to be mermaids.

The Tampa Bay Times reports Weeki Wachee Springs State Park will hold auditions Jan. 13 for its world-famous mermaid squad. There are currently 17 performing mermaids and three princes.

The Weeki Wachee mermaids perform underwater year-round in 72-degree spring water from the head of the Weeki Wachee river. The show debuted in 1947 in a limestone theater built below the spring's surface.

The park expects at least 50 women to come for the first round of auditions, which includes a 300-yard (274-meter) endurance swim and up to 15 minutes of treading water. Passing candidates will be invited back for an underwater audition, where they'll have to show they can move like mermaids.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.

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