Rhyl Seaquarium's search for mermaid goes swimmingly
An aquarium claims to have been flooded with applications after advertising for a "real life" mermaid - male or female.
The SeaQuarium in Rhyl, Denbighshire, wants someone to swim with sharks, rays and eels in its tank wearing a costume.
It will not all be glamour however, as the successful candidate should also be prepared to clean the aquarium's tanks.
Paul Tyson, the displays manager, said: "We'd like some more male applicants though, as we don't mind if it's a mer-man or a mer-girl that gets the job".
He said there had been a worldwide response to the ad since it was placed a month ago.
He said: "So far we've had interest from all sorts of people - students, marine biologists, professional divers, paintball marshals, the lot.
"And we've not just had people from all over the UK apply but from all over the world.
"It's not all going to be about sitting around looking good.
"As a qualified diver our mermaid will have to help out with cleaning some of the 50 sq m of glass that make-up the inside of our ocean eco-system tank."
The advert was placed in DIVE magazine, with of closing date for initial enquiries of 5 November.
Applicants are told they need to be available during the Easter holidays 2011, be enthusiastic about marine life as well as being scuba-dive qualified to PADI - Professional Association of Diving Instructors - open water standard.