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CNN Live At Daybreak
Last Bastion for Mermaids in Danger of Going Under
Aired August 21, 2003 - 05:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What may be the last bastion for mermaids is in danger of going under. And if you doubt that mermaids actually exist, then you obviously haven't been to the Weeki Wachee.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If your knees go weak watching mermaids, Weeki Wachee is for you. At Weeki, you can watchee a mermaid eat a banana or feed the fish mouth to mouth. But financial resuscitation is what this underground spring in Florida needs. Take it from the mermaid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come to Weeki Wachee. Don't close it down, please.
MOOS: The effort to save a tourist attraction in Florida led to a fundraiser in New York at The Coral Room. The benefit raised money for a documentary on Weeki Wachee. Sarah Dion is producing "Once A Mermaid."
(on camera): And there's also just something about mermaids, I don't know.
SARAH DION: There is. I mean they don't calm the sirens for nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A giant shell yields up, indeed, a pearl of a mermaid.
MOOS (voice-over): Mermaids can get under, not to mention onto, your skin. The documentary features interviews with past mermaids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found the hardest thing to learn how to do underwater was smile.
MOOS: Not to mention learning to use the air hose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing double in today's show, twin mermaids, that is.
MOOS: Holly and Dolly were teenagers back in the late '60s. Now, age 53, they were carried around the fundraiser. You can't expect a mermaid to walk properly on her tail.
(on camera): Who's who here? HOLLY: I'm Holly.
DOLLY: I'm Dolly.
MOOS (voice-over): Holly and Dolly say it was magical being a mermaid.
DOLLY: Sort of kind of what an astronaut feels like. You're in a different world.
MOOS: The pair even did a Windex commercial at Weeki Wachee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get super charged Windex and get a better view of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MOOS: Folks at the benefit got a better view of Holly and Dolly. But these days people prefer those giant water parks with rides. Weeki Wachee was sinking fast until recently the city of Weeki Wachee, population nine, took over the attraction. The mayor was once a mermaid until she...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hung up my tail.
MOOS: The city is starting to renovate Weeki Wachee. So let's drink to the survival of a species that may be on its last fins.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 21, 2003 - 05:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What may be the last bastion for mermaids is in danger of going under. And if you doubt that mermaids actually exist, then you obviously haven't been to the Weeki Wachee.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If your knees go weak watching mermaids, Weeki Wachee is for you. At Weeki, you can watchee a mermaid eat a banana or feed the fish mouth to mouth. But financial resuscitation is what this underground spring in Florida needs. Take it from the mermaid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come to Weeki Wachee. Don't close it down, please.
MOOS: The effort to save a tourist attraction in Florida led to a fundraiser in New York at The Coral Room. The benefit raised money for a documentary on Weeki Wachee. Sarah Dion is producing "Once A Mermaid."
(on camera): And there's also just something about mermaids, I don't know.
SARAH DION: There is. I mean they don't calm the sirens for nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A giant shell yields up, indeed, a pearl of a mermaid.
MOOS (voice-over): Mermaids can get under, not to mention onto, your skin. The documentary features interviews with past mermaids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found the hardest thing to learn how to do underwater was smile.
MOOS: Not to mention learning to use the air hose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing double in today's show, twin mermaids, that is.
MOOS: Holly and Dolly were teenagers back in the late '60s. Now, age 53, they were carried around the fundraiser. You can't expect a mermaid to walk properly on her tail.
(on camera): Who's who here? HOLLY: I'm Holly.
DOLLY: I'm Dolly.
MOOS (voice-over): Holly and Dolly say it was magical being a mermaid.
DOLLY: Sort of kind of what an astronaut feels like. You're in a different world.
MOOS: The pair even did a Windex commercial at Weeki Wachee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get super charged Windex and get a better view of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MOOS: Folks at the benefit got a better view of Holly and Dolly. But these days people prefer those giant water parks with rides. Weeki Wachee was sinking fast until recently the city of Weeki Wachee, population nine, took over the attraction. The mayor was once a mermaid until she...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hung up my tail.
MOOS: The city is starting to renovate Weeki Wachee. So let's drink to the survival of a species that may be on its last fins.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
