NASSAU, The Bahamas — A shipwreck's shape looms like a sleeping coral giant on the ocean's floor. The scene is serene. The water, crystalline. A human form moves there, fluid and slow motion through the Atlantic undulation.
That human is Amelia Henderson, First Coast News meteorologist and possible mermaid. She recently traveled to Nassau, Bahamas for a photo shoot with Pia Venegas at the Ray of Hope shipwreck.
80-feet down in tropical waters Henderson is at home with the angelfish, anemones and reef sharks. Surprisingly, she doesn't have gills, although Henderson did hold her breath once for 2 minutes 48 seconds off the coast of Indonesia during a certification dive.
While she might not be a certified mermaid, Henderson is a scuba dive master and coral reef specialist, certified in shark feeding, shipwreck diving, cave diving and free diving.
Double checking Henderson for gills, no gills are present. But her status may need to be upgraded to Very Possibly a Mermaid, or lost city of Atlantis passport holder.
So what goes into doing a photo shoot 80-feet down at the bottom of the ocean in a dress without a mask on? Henderson answered some questions:
How did the shoot come about? You were hoping for sharks?
Henderson: I've been wanting to do this photo shoot for nearly seven years. We went out to the shipwreck on a boat, thoroughly discussing the plan to be down at the wreck with all the safety measures in case I were to panic while down there.
Once we got to the ocean floor by the shipwreck, I set my gear aside and practiced taking my mask off and taking my regulator out of my mouth and would sit on the ocean floor to see how comfortable I was without any air or mask on.
We were hoping for sharks, yes. But they don't care about photo shoots. Next time I'm bringing a bait box.
Did the saltwater hurt your eyes?
Henderson: I practiced opening my eyes under the water. I'd hold my breath and look around to get my eyes adjusted before we started the photo shoot. I got somewhat used to it.
Once I felt comfortable without my mask and regulator and felt comfortable holding my breath we started taking pictures. We did several locations around the shipwreck and several series of photos.
Were you weighted down?
Henderson: I had a weight belt on under my dress. And the dress had pockets, so we put weights in those as well. I initially went down with a scuba tank.
Let's talk makeup and hair. How did your eyelashes stay on down there? How did you style for 80-feet deep?
Henderson: I couldn't believe my eyelashes stayed on the entire time [laughs]. I thought I might lose them with my mask going off and on repeatedly.
Somehow my makeup managed to stay on as well, because I sprayed my face with hairspray before getting in the water, which helps makeup stick to your face even in water.
People have asked how my hair stayed down. Luckily there was little current by the wreck that day so the ocean was pretty still allowing me to easily adjust my hair for the shots.
Who was your team there? One other diver and the photographer? How did it work with them? How long were you holding your breath for?
Henderson: The incredibly talented photographer Pia Venegas and safety diver Laquon Bain who kept me alive.
I had Laquon giving me his spare regulator allowing me to breathe oxygen from his scuba tank. Then I'd take my mask off and give it to him while still breathing from the regulator.
Once I took a few deep breaths I'd give the regulator to Laquon and hold my breath. Laquon would take my mask and the regulator and go hide behind the photographer while she snapped photos of me posing for a little over a minute at a time.
Once I felt I couldn’t hold my breath any longer I'd signal to Laquon and he'd swim over and give me oxygen from the spare regulator again and give me my mask to clear and be able to see what the photographer wanted to do next. We did this process over and over for about an hour under the water.
Once we got low on air we wrapped up the shoot and I was taken back to my scuba diving gear, which I put back on underwater and slowly ascended, with a safety stop at 15-feet to decompress before heading to the surface.
I'm so thankful to Pia and Laquon for being amazing and can't wait to do another shoot.
When is the next one? You're hoping for sharks at that one?
Henderson: We have another shoot planned for October 12th. It'll be two different dives and two different dresses. And I'll be bringing a bait box to attract sharks!
(Song: "Ticking Hands" by Lusine, ©️Ghostly International.)
