Columns: Mermaids and the, uh, scales of justice

WEEKI WACHEE - Mermaids have been performing at Weeki Wachee Springs for 60 years. At first, they stood along U.S. 19 in swimsuits, flagging down traffic. Then they would run and jump in the spring to do their underwater act.

The glory years were the 1950s and 1960s, when Weeki Wachee gained worldwide fame. Today the place still has a sort of 1960s, pre-Disney feel, which I mean in a good way - a perfect piece of Florida roadside kitsch, before everything got all modern.

You sit in a curved amphitheater and peer through giant windows into the spring. The mermaids swim and dance and lip-synch to music, breathing through air hoses.

I watched them do The Little Mermaid the other day. At the risk of spoiling the story, I can tell you that the heroine finds her prince and the Wicked Sea Witch is defeated.

Unfortunately for the mermaids of Weeki Wachee, it is easier to defeat fictitious sea witches than to subdue a real-life adversary, namely ...

The water district owns the land that Weeki Wachee Springs sits upon. And it is suing. Has been suing.

As for who owns the mermaids, well, that is an interesting setup. There's a private company. But a few years ago its owner simply gave the company to the city of Weeki Wachee. (He got a tax break.)

As for the "city," its population usually fluctuates somewhere between five and nine people, consisting of attraction employees.

This is a cozy setup, and it bugs the heck out of Swiftmud. The lawsuit was originally about three things:

- Was this a transfer of the lease to a new party? That needed Swiftmud's approval.

- Did Weeki Wachee break its lease when it removed sand that had run off into the springs without a permit?

But after talking with both sides, I am convinced it is no longer just about those things.

These guys really do not like each other. And -- like a couple going through a bitter, endless divorce, egged on by lawyers -- all they can do is complain about each other, reciting every sin, every remark, every misdeed of the past four years.

I have the distinct impression that Swiftmud is damned if it is going to be bested by a bunch of mermaids.

Still, maybe there is a way out. Some state folks toured the place the other day with an eye toward taking it over as a state park. Remember, the public owns the land anyway.

A state takeover is fine by the Weeki Wachee folks (although I think they figure the state will let them keep running the attraction). The Swiftmud folks also say it would be fine by them.

So I hope that is what happens. That way everybody is happy, and we could still have mermaids.

On the way out, I passed an outdoor booth where you could have your picture taken with one. It was for kids, I figured, so I didn't make a spectacle of myself. But I thought about it.

For more on Weeki Wachee Springs, check out TroxBlog at blogs.tampabay.com/troxler.

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Comments on this article

by John	08/30/07 02:05 PM
Michael... All issues have been adressed. What remains the issue? Tell us why the District ignored the runoff issue for years that caused the sand on the beach to erode into the spring? Who was it that fixed the seawall to cure this problem?

by Michael	08/29/07 01:03 PM
The public safety issues included unsafe buildings that were fixed at the District's insistence. Environmental issues included disconnecting from an outdated sewer plant, done at the District's insistence, and unpermitted dredging in the spring run.

by Darren	08/28/07 04:36 PM
you are all so fooled. the state will save the park, not the current magrs who only worry about keep in control. the mangrs make big $ and a salary. Everyone else? Min wage and less thn 20 hrs/wk. They dont get raises at all, but the mangers do.

by Bill	08/28/07 12:03 PM
Ah, yes. What happens when you give a few little people a little power. By existing, Swiftmud is depriving a few condo boards their own flag, and lawn ornament nazis.

by ToolmanTim	08/28/07 10:26 AM
Hummm you did not post my comment because the truth was told. Anyways you can't even spell Weeki Wachee correctly. See your web address at the end of your comment. Thanks Tim

by pj	08/28/07 07:03 AM
Have you ever seen the amount of cars in their parking lot even during the week!!! Someone is having fun. Guess SWFWMD does not have that in their book. Anyone know what goes on down the river from WW in their new resort,,,umm I mean building?

by Craig	08/28/07 05:19 AM
Considering the great job the SWFWMD has done with the rest of Florida, how about they just butt out? I doubt that the people that work for WMD can effectively manage their own lives must less an entire eco-system.

by Kirk	08/28/07 03:22 AM
Can a city really own a company like this at all? - Doesn't the city of Green Bay own the Packers?

by Beverly	08/27/07 08:44 PM
For Pete's sake, make it a state park and let the mermaids continue entertaining the tourists. Good clean fun should be encouraged.

by Daniel	08/27/07 02:58 PM
That should be www.weekiwachee.com. The URL you gave is wrong. I'll bet SWFWMD "fully recognizes" the PR disaster it would be to put the Weeki Wachee Mermaids out of work. This is probably the best maintained spring in the world.

by Michael	08/27/07 02:08 PM
"Save the Mermaid" tags, anyone?

by Mark	08/27/07 02:05 PM
Watch out! Letting the State have the mermaids for a park doesn't save it from the environmental zealots. The enviros are all over the park system too, trying to shut out human activity and recreation.

by Jack	08/27/07 01:47 PM
Michael, are you serious? PUBLIC SAFETY? Please cite any and all safety incidents over the past 40 years for this establishment. Your organization, and you, are viewed as a joke. How do you justify spending tax dollar for this frivolity?

by Crystal	08/27/07 12:43 PM
Michael, what would you prefer to be different? What is not being protected? I'm not sure I understand the comment about protecting the spring or public safety. Everything seemed to ensure protecting both when I visited a few years ago. Nice setup.

by Nicholas	08/27/07 12:42 PM
Growing up just north of crystal river (30-40 miles away from weekie wachee), I spent a good bit of time there during the summers. I hope the state takes it over, there is so much history tied up there to let some dis-agreenace ruin it.

by Mike	08/27/07 12:32 PM
Let me see if I understand this right... a half dozen young ladies swimming around pollutes the water and is a public safety issue. I saw Weeki Wachee in 1967 and would like to see again someday, nothing else in FL has the same charm.

by Gary	08/27/07 12:26 PM
My Mom was a mermaid there (58-60, til she was pregnant with me) and there are many others running around Florida. Save the spring for the mermaids and make it a state park! You could do much worse.

by jerry	08/27/07 12:19 PM
We should send the hills co BOCC up to Tally to wack away SWFWMD. Who needs 'em anyway?

by Lloyd Grant	08/27/07 12:18 PM
It's so easy to hide behind "Public Safety". Why can't the government just let people have a little fun?

by Jimmy B.	08/27/07 11:38 AM
If you want to really understand the historical significance of WW, read Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids (UPF).

by JT	08/27/07 11:07 AM
Went to WW and Buccaneer Bay twice over the summer - kids had a blast - affordable - much rather see mermaids than overstuffed cartoon characters. I hope the state does take WW over as a park - NotsoSwiftMud should be ashamed. Egos gone wild!!

by Michael	08/27/07 08:47 AM
Our lawsuit is about protecting the springs (one of only 33 first-magnitude springs in Fl) and public safety. We fully recognize the historical value of the mermaid attraction and the recreational value of Buccaneer Bay. -Communications Dir. SWFWMD

by Don	08/26/07 06:10 PM
Are you kidding? You didnt get a picture with a real live Mermaid? Thats the best part of going there. They may be extinct soon by the sounds of it. Better get back there for a picture before Swftmud kills another endangered Mammal!

by Elizabeth	08/26/07 04:15 PM
There was a time when almost every little girl in Florida dreamed of becoming a Weeki Wachee mermaid. A friend spent hours practicing holding her breath in the bathroom sink. Sad mermaids could end up an extinct species.

by Barry	08/26/07 09:12 AM
The lawsuit is really about environmental zealots at Swfwmd who desperately want to shut down the mermaids--a true hernando landmark, with the goal of returning the spring to its natural state. Swfwmd is wasting tons of taxdollars on the lawsuit.

by Waggoner	08/26/07 05:15 AM
Well said Mr.Troxler

by Boo Boo	08/26/07 05:09 AM
Sounds like Swiftmud needs a swift kick in the shins (I said that nicely) I wonder who sits on their board?