AP all-formats teams reported from the Philippines and Australia for this engaging package that introduced readers and viewers to the growing subculture of mermaiding, and how it has come to represent diversity.
After a year of writing about human rights abuses in Myanmar, investigative reporter Kristen Gelineau desperately needed something different. Something lighter ... happier ... splashier.
Enter the mermaids — or, as they are more accurately known, merfolk, a growing community around the world. Gelineau also revealed how mermaiding has become something of a vehicle for diversity, attracting trans merfolk, merfolk of color, merfolk of different sizes, etc. She even brought her investigative skills to the darker side of mermaiding, such as merverts and safety considerations, in what is surely the first time the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has received a request for the number of incidents involving mermaid tails. (There are three.) Gelineau’s writing managed to be funny (and punny) while also sensitive.
A mermaiding story would sink without strong visuals, and AP’s photo and video teams delivered. Producer Serginho Roosblad in Sacramento, California, put together a distinctive video with footage by video journalist Joeal Caliputan — from graceful underwater footage to fun interviews, including a merman hanging out on the side of a pool. And the photo team of photographers Mark “Crusty” Baker and Aaron Favila deftly captured the story’s blend of lightness and awareness, under the guidance and direction of New York-based photographer and photo editor Maye-E Wong, who contributed to the presentation by Kii Sato, Asia-Pacific deputy news director for storytelling and photos. From drones to the depths, they explored all angles of the merfolk phenomenon.
Jennica Secuya swims in her mermaid suit during a mermaiding class in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora, right, and her students prepare for a mermaiding class at the Ocean Camp in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
A freediving class is conducted beside the mermaid tail of Queen Pangke Tabora at the Ocean Camp in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022. Across the planet there are thousands more merfolk — humans of all shapes, genders and backgrounds who enjoy dressing up as mermaids.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora conducts a freediving class at the Ocean Camp in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 21, 2022. There was a pivotal moment in her life that eclipsed all others: It was the moment, she says, when she first slid her legs into a mermaid tail.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora swims in her mermaid suit as she conducts a mermaiding class in front of the Ocean Camp in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022. For the transgender Filipina woman approaching middle age, seeing her legs encased in vibrant, scaly-looking neoprene three years ago was the realization of a childhood dream.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora lies in bed with her dog Choknut, inside their room at the Ocean Camp where she conducts freediving and mermaiding classes in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 21, 2022.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora kisses her dog Choknut before teaching freediving and mermaiding classes at the Ocean Camp in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 21, 2022.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Queen Pangke Tabora swims in her monofin as she demonstrates techniques to her mermaiding class in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 21, 2022. The former insurance company worker described the experience of gliding under water, half-human and half-fish, as “meditation in motion.”
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Filipina Jennica Secuya, left, swims with other students during a mermaiding class in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022. Away from the critics and chaos of life on land, merfolk find a kinder, gentler and more joyful alternative to the real world. It is also a world, they say, where you can be whoever and whatever you want.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Lauren Metzler, founder of Sydney Mermaids, prepares for a swim at Manly Cove Beach in Sydney, Australia, May 26, 2022. “The more we open up our imagination and accept everyone for how they are, it makes it more of a beautiful experience,” she says. “The sky — or ocean floor — is the limit of what you can do with mermaiding.”
AP Photo / Mark Baker
Lauren Metzler, founder of Sydney Mermaids, swims at Manly Cove Beach in Sydney, Australia, May 26, 2022. “Some people have a coffee in the morning to wake up, some people have a mermaid swim,” Metzler says with a laugh as she glides through the water, her skin adorned with sparkly sequins. “This tail is so fun to swim in!”
AP Photo / Mark Baker
Lauren Metzler, founder of Sydney Mermaids, prepares for a swim at Manly Cove Beach in Sydney, Australia, May 26, 2022. Metzler received her advanced mermaid certification this month with a goal of teaching rookie merfolk how to avoid sinking to the seabed.
AP Photo / Mark Baker
Lauren Metzler, founder of Sydney Mermaids, washes her tailfin after a swim at Manly Cove Beach in Sydney, Australia, May 26, 2022. Across the world, people are increasingly embracing the community of mermaiding.
AP Photo / Mark Baker
The tailfin of Lauren Metzler, founder of Sydney Mermaids, lies on the sand as she prepares for an early morning swim at Manly Cove Beach in Sydney, Australia, May 26, 2022.
AP Photo / Mark Baker
The story was second-most-read on the AP News platform, beaten only by coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court. And in a sign of how it resonated worldwide, the piece appeared in huge spreads across the front page of the Philippines’ Business Mirror and in the New Zealand Herald, just to name a couple.
As amusing as it was, the story was enlightening and informative for readers, one of whom wrote: “This is an incredible article of something I knew nothing about and it is fascinating that one of the leading dive organizations in the world is involved.” The transgender Filipina woman in the story’s lead was overjoyed, writing (with many emojis): “Being recognized and appreciated is such a huge milestone and fulfillment. ... This is dedicated to all members of the LGBTQIAplus community and our allies.”
The package even prompted a response from an actual shell-ebrity — the REAL Ariel, aka Jodi Benson, who voiced the troubled mermaid in the Disney movie. She told AP sportswriter Ben Walker that she loved the story and it made her laugh.
Queen Pangke Tabora, right, swims with her students during a mermaiding class in Mabini, Batangas province, Philippines, May 22, 2022.
AP Photo / Aaron Favila