The Water Realms

A blog for all things Aquatic, including The Shape of Water and Merfolk myths & legends

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To add to my previous posting, the above photos show the rough-toothed dolphins who currently call the Clearwater Marine Aquarium home. Until CMA, I had never seen this species of dolphin before, and I love their look! Almost resembling bottlenose dolphins but not quite. The six rough-toothed dolphins at CMA are named Doris, Kitana, Dagny, Wren, Rudy, and Rosie. They have joined the aquarium's 3 bottlenose dolphins: Hope, Izzy, and Nicholas.

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Earlier this year (2025) I got to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) in Florida. Here are some photos I took of some of the aquarium's animal residents as well as art displays and exhibits. CMA is a unique place as it specializes in Rescue, Rehab, and Release. Those rescued animals deemed non-releasable are lucky to call CMA their forever home. The most famous rescued resident was Winter the bottlenose dolphin, who starred in the two Dolphin Tale films. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to see Winter at CMA as she sadly passed away in 2021. But her memory lives on there, with her prosthetic tail flukes on display to the public. I love visiting aquariums, and CMA is one I highly recommend! Including CMA, so far I've been fortunate enough to visit 8 aquariums, with more on my list for the future.

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I watched the new Netflix animated film The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep. In addition to featuring the title character of the Witcher (aka Geralt of Rivia) and his allies, the story revolves around the Romeo & Juliet type romance between a mermaid princess and a human prince, with both their respective species on the verge of all-out war. The storyline is basically an alternate version of The Little Mermaid, with elements from both the original Andersen fairytale and the Disney animated film. I really enjoyed it! The underwater kingdom of the merpeople is stunning, and I particularly liked the character of the merprincess Sh'eenaz. If you like a good fantasy story with merfolk, and you like good quality animation...and you're a Little Mermaid fan, then I recommend this film!

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Everything GREAT About Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom!

I know it’s been a while, but here’s one more DCEU Aquaman related post. I really enjoy the CinemaWins video essays/reviews, and I’m glad we got one on Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. I do legit enjoy the heck out of the film, and think it’s a pretty good sequel to the first one. I’ll truly miss these film versions of the Aquaman characters -- they’re so likable and entertaining to watch! They’ve brought me much underwater cinematic joy!

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It was wonderful to see two classic Atlantean creatures featured in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom: King Arthur's giant seahorse steed Storm, and friend and ally Topo the octopus. It was especially fun seeing Topo helping Arthur in freeing Orm from the Deserter Kingdom prison.

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I really like the various poster designs for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. My favorite ones might be those featuring King Arthur's giant seahorse Storm (introduced in the new film).

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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom BREAKDOWN - Every Easter Egg & Jason Momoa ...

Here’s a great breakdown video for the new Aquaman film. I saw the movie in IMAX recently and really enjoyed it, so it’s nice that the guy in this video genuinely enjoyed the movie too.

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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | Trailer

The Return of the King of Atlantis (and the DCEU merfolk)! Really hoping this sequel will be as good as the first film. Planning to see this in theaters this December, in IMAX.

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the evolution of mermaids in pop culture 🌊☠️🧜🏾‍♀️

Here’s a recent video essay on the history and evolution of mermaids from myth to popular culture, and while I appreciate the inclusion of clips/footage from the Siren TV series, I was rather disappointed the series itself didn’t get a mention. Likewise, I feel like The Shape of Water should’ve been included as well, especially since it technically featured merfolk, and it's the first mer-related film to ever receive 13 Oscar nominations and win Best Picture.

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James Jean, the brilliantly talented artist who created the teaser posters for The Shape of Water, rendered Elisa's face slightly different in the two versions of the poster. I noticed it early on, but I recently learned that the difference is actually symbolic! In the one version, Elisa's mouth is hidden by the Amphibian Man's shoulder, and in the other (blue-green hued) version, her full face is visible. Her mouth being covered is meant to represent her being mute. So in the version where her mouth isn't covered, I'm thinking it's representing her true (mermaid) nature (as revealed at the film's end).

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“The Shape Of Water”; just your typical, Cold War-era, girl-meets-amphibian love story…

Guillermo del Toro (director/producer of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Devil’s Backbone,” and the “Hellboy” movies) directs and co-writes (along with Vanessa Taylor) a Cold War fairytale that exists in a sur…

Just recently discovered this excellent review from 2017. I agree with everything the Middle Aged Geek said about this stunning film!

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This is a 2-volume graphic novel (published in 2021 - 2022) called Sirens of the Norse Sea, about Vikings versus mermaids/merfolk. The artwork looks amazing -- I really like the art style! Looking forward to diving in and reading these new books.

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The Shape of Water ( Unreleased teaser)

Since this year (2022) marked the 5th Anniversary of The Shape of Water, this previously unreleased beautiful teaser trailer for the film was posted on social media. Happy 5th to one of my all-time favorite films ever! Hard to believe it’s been 5 years already. If I had seen this particular teaser trailer in theaters back in 2017, it would’ve made me want to see the film as much as, if not more than, James Jean’s gorgeous teaser poster art did at the time.

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So when I visited the Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto, there was a special exhibit there about Shipwrecks, and a small part of it highlighted mermaids, since they feature in certain myths and legends about shipwrecks. I especially appreciated the question asked about types of mermaids found in modern pop culture. And I do agree with the answer (seen in the above photo I took). The traditional mermaid that can only live in the sea would be a mermaid like Ariel (The Little Mermaid). The skin shedding mermaid common in Irish folklore is known as a Selkie. The shape shifting mermaid that can change into a human would be a mermaid like Madison (Splash), Syrena (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Ryn (Siren). And the entirely human form of mermaid would be like Mera (Aquaman), Elisa (The Shape of Water), and the “Gill Girl” from the Dark Angel episode of the same name.

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Here’s some mermaid merch I acquired on a recent trip to Toronto. All items except the “All About Mermaids” book were purchased at the Ripley’s Aquarium gift shop. Shown here are a T-shirt, pair of socks, wooden mermaid sculpture, and purse. The illustrated book was found in a mall bookstore.

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Superman's Telepathic Mermaid Ex-Girlfriend - A Lori Lemaris Retrospective

A very interesting video retrospective on the DC Comics mermaid Lori Lemaris. In recent times, Lori has been portrayed as a citizen of Aquaman’s Atlantis.

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From the TV series Dark Angel (2000 - 2002), the Season 2 episode “Gill Girl”. A female aquatic transgenic and her mate. They can breathe underwater via gills on their torsos. The episode even references The Little Mermaid (both the original Hans Christian Andersen tale and the Disney animated film).