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Like many little girls, Katrina Comiskey used to fantasise about growing a sparkly tail and swimming under the sea surrounded by brightly coloured fish

Last year, the graphic designer realised her childhood dream when she became one of the nation’s first real-life professional mermaids.

Katrina, 24, from Glasgow, is now making a splash travelling up and down the UK performing in aquariums and enchanting the next generation of mermaid lovers with her underwater acrobatics.

The qualified free diver, who can hold her breath for more than three minutes, said getting to be a real-life Ariel is the best job in the world.

She said: “When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with Disney’s Little Mermaid and watched it so often I wore out the DVD.

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“Although I adored the movie, I used to get annoyed at Ariel for wanting to have legs instead of a tail as I spent my whole childhood wishing my legs would turn into a tail so I could swim under the sea.

“The freedom of being a mermaid and swimming with beautiful sea creatures was my ultimate fantasy and I’m over the moon that my dreams have come true.”

Katrina, originally from Kent, is part of the growing phenomenon of “mermaiding”.

She said: “There are 366 mermaids and mermen in the UK ‘merpod’ and the number is growing all the time. We meet up at the UK Mermaid Convention in London every year, which is great fun. There are 10 mermaids in Scotland but only three of us do shows.

“I am known as Kat the Tattooed Mermaid because of all my ink work. In my mermaid bio for the shows, audiences are told I was given my tattoos by sailors who met me on their travels.

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“At the moment, I have a shimmering fabric tail from Germany and a monofin I got from Australia but, in four weeks time, I will be the proud owner of a realistic silicon custom-made tail.”

Next, Katrina will be performing an underwater spectacular in the tropical fish tank at Sea Life Loch Lomond Aquarium this summer. She added: “Everyone needs a bit of magic in their lives and you can’t get much more magical than a real-life mermaid.

“Seeing the excitement and joy on the faces of the children makes my heart want to burst.”

She may make mermaiding look easy but achieving her fishy goal took a lot of skill and even more hard work.

Katrina said: “I started mermaiding 18 months ago after signing up to a free diving course that just happened to be run by instructor Steve Millard, who runs mermaid shows in the UK.

(Image: UGC)

“After I completed his intense course, he asked if I would like to take part in a show if the need arose.

“I’ve done two shows in Manchester and am looking forward to the last weekend in August and the first weekend in September, when I will do my first Scottish show at the Loch Lomond Sealife Centre.

“It has taken me 18 months to get to this level. There is a lot of skill and fitness involved.”

While she also does vintage modelling, Katrina admits it takes a lot of energy to juggle her job on dry land and her career under the sea but admits it is all worth it.

She said: “My mermaiding dream is to go to Hawaii and swim in the ocean with the humpback whales and why not?

“Anything is possible if you dare to dream. I’m living proof of that.”