Under The Sun

Podcast: Download

by Trina Sargalski and Carey McKearnan

Marina Duran-Anderson performs as a mermaid at the Yankee Clipper hotel pool.  The audience watches from porthole windows in the Wreck Bar./ Sharon Sandoval

In our recurring  “All in a Day’s Work” segments, we explore the unique ways South Floridians make a living.

Marina Duran-Anderson calls herself a “retro-tainer.”  She bellydances, swallows fire and dances at Polynesian pop performances such as the Hukilau, an annual tiki convention in Fort Lauderdale.

She may be most well-known for her Marina the Mermaid act.  Every Friday, Marina swam in the hotel pool of the Yankee Clipper hotel.  While you enjoyed happy hour, you could watch a mermaid or two languidly swim from porthole to porthole of the Wreck Bar.

That was until the hotel shut down for renovations this summer.

Marina had many devoted fans, although she and her fellow mermaid performers never saw them: “I don’t know how many people the Wreck Bar holds, but the funny part is that we  don’t get to see people when we perform because we’re in the pool. We hear them.  We hear from the bartender that the place was packed, but when we’re done and we dry off and we come back down, they’re all gone.”

Update: The good news is that the hotel, now known as the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel, reopened in early 2010 and Marina is now back at the Wreck Bar.   She performs on Fridays at 6:30 pm.   You can also check out Marina’s website to find out what else she’s up to these days.

Related Link: How to be a Mermaid

A compilation video of several of Marina’s performances at the Wreck Bar, including her mermaid act and a “pearl divers” performance from the Hukilau tiki festival: