By Tyler Barth
COVID has forced everyone to make changes — even mermaids.
Refusing to let the pandemic send her dreams to the lifeboats, Sandra Walder, a professional mermaid, pivoted around a few buoys and created her own business. And things have been going swimmingly ever since.
It’s been a splash interacting with children at pool parties around Morris County and northern New Jersey, says Walder, who performs as Sandy Sea. Her aquatic journey stems from a childhood memory that sparked a love for the ocean.
“I met Ariel at Disney when I was a kid, and I just became obsessed,” says Walder, a senior at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach.
Ever since, her life has revolved around water and performing. She got her basic SCUBA certification when she was 10, appeared in a variety of plays and musicals as a teen, and passed the Master Scuba Diver test at 18.
At college in South Carolina, she was determined to join the mermaid team at Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, one of the country’s most prestigious locations for mermaid performers.
“I saw the mermaid show there, and it just blew me away. And I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” says Walder, who grew up in Franklin Lakes.
More than 80 aspiring mermaids applied for a handful of openings. To her surprise, she received a job offer a week later, rounding out the roster of 20 performers.
Over several weeks of hard training, she learned to swim and perform wearing a heavy mermaid tail. Eagerly, she awaited her first performance.
It was just three days away when the aquarium, the most popular attraction in Myrtle Beach, shut down because of COVID-19.
“I was devastated. Just devastated,” Walder says.
Not willing to see her aspirations sink to the bottom of Mariana Trench, Walder waited until pandemic restrictions eased, and then dove into life as an independent mermaid.
Through word of mouth, Sandy Sea began reeling in gigs. By April 2021, she found herself booked for almost the entire summer. Fees vary based on party length and distance to travel; bookings start around $200.
She begins a performance by hopping into the pool with her giant tail, a
behemoth of scales and silicone that binds her legs together and inhibits non-aquatic movement.
At 35 pounds, it’s heavy — but a cinch compared to the 60 pounds of gear she straps on when scuba diving.
She’s just retired her first tail, a bargain at $900. She shelled out four thousand clams for a new appendage.
It’s worth it. Walder recalls a little girl breaking down in sobs of joy at the sight of such a majestic creature.
Once in the pool, Sandy entertains kids with backflips, games such as Sharks and Mermaids or Siren Says, and little chats, where she recounts her magical life under the sea. She even leads Disney sing-a-longs.
Some children are suspicious of whether she’s real. Sandy proves herself by chaining backflips, or holding her breath underwater for a minute and a half. To the guppies, 90 seconds of breath-holding seems like an hour.
This usually causes their eyes to light up, she says. If not, she’ll spin a tail, er, tale.
“I come from Atlantis,” Walder tells them. “I went to school with Ariel, but we don’t talk much anymore. She was in a movie and she got really busy.”
Provided she keeps her backstory straight, it’s smooth sailing, she says.
“They’d ask me who my friend is, and if you say your friend is Jim to one and George to another, they’ll call you fake. But as long as you say your friend’s Tiffany to everyone, they’ll believe you.”
Sandy’s most important message, however, is about preserving the oceans. By 2050, sea-borne plastic will outnumber fish, according to the Washington Post.
Even in 2020, a year when the pandemic kept many people off the beach, an estimated 1.56 billion COVID masks ended up in the sea. That number may increase exponentially as countries reopen.
Equally as important is safety when playing with mermaid tails, hot-ticket beach items this year.
“They’re super fun and super cute, but they can also be super dangerous,” Walder says.
“They can inhibit a child’s swimming ability by 70 percent, dramatically increasing a child’s chances of drowning. Which is why they should really be instructed how to swim with it safely and properly.”
In addition to pool parties, Walder has participated in dry parties, given private mermaid lessons and recorded personalized messages for kids. She’s criss-crossed New Jersey, making splashes from Morris to Monmouth counties.
“There’s been a surprising amount of school assemblies,” she notes.
Walder knows that one day she’ll have to hang up her tail. She is pursuing studies in behavioral neuroscience, and looking forward to spending more time with her boyfriend, a commercial fishing boat captain.
Until then, she’s going to savor every moment in the pool.
“I love the whole experience. It’s like my dream job.”
