By Liana Jacob
MEET THE call centre operative and eco-warrior merman who poses on the beach with his tail on display in a bid to inspire people to protect the world’s oceans.
Pictures show training supervisor, Rey Julien Teves (38), gracefully gliding through the crystal blue waters using his homemade and dark-coloured tail, while in another image, he poses on a rock, just like the main protagonist, Ariel, in The Little Mermaid.
Other images reveal stunning landscapes of the golden beach, one of which shows Rey wearing his tail while sitting on a swing and lying on the sand exhibiting a tail-swish while looking wistfully at the ocean.
The image of mermaids first fascinated Rey, who is from Cebu, Philippines, while he was on holiday last year and took mermaid lessons. His stunning portraits then took off.
“It’s a hobby and it interests me. It started when I went on vacation last year and took mermaid lessons. My pictures from that got a lot of compliments and it kind of grew from there.
“I just made my tail. The rest of my look is natural. Most of my look is my own personal labour; like making the tail.
“People take pictures and compliment me, so I’ve had no bad experiences as of now.”
The mermaid community has been around since the late 19th century, when an Australian professional swimmer, Anette Marie Sarah Kellerman, was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume and inspired others to do the same.
Rey’s main ambition through this is to push for environment protection.
“It represents my love for the ocean and wanting to protect it at all costs. I also love the support and kindness of the ‘mercommunity’ and how creativity is embraced,” Rey said.
“Protect our oceans by changing bad habits when you’re at the beach; pick up plastic when u can and support local beach clean-ups.
“Whenever we are at the beach or in any body of water really, I make sure we leave nothing behind that could damage the environment or harm the animals.
“I pick up what I can and dispose of it properly. I hope to contribute more and do more for the ocean.”
For more information visit: https://www.instagram.com/oceanus_the_merman/
