AUSTRALIA, Thursday 19th October – Over its 50 year history, Manly Sea Life Sanctuary has played a symbolic part of so many Australians’ lives and in January 2018 the favoured attraction will be closing its doors forever.
During this time, the attraction has welcomed hundreds of thousands of families through its doors, helped Australian youth start their careers, and has even hosted an underwater wedding. The attraction has celebrated world-firsts, including being the first to rescue, rehabilitate and release a Great White Shark and breed Grey Nurse Sharks on-site – and countless rescues of turtles, stingrays and more recently, the rescue and return of ‘Fluffy’ who was swept up onto Manly shores.
To bid farewell, It’s only fitting that the attraction receives a farewell relative to the impact it has had on the Northern Beaches.
This is where we need your help.
We’ve dug deep into the archives and tracked down original footage (0.48-1.38) which shows young Australian girls who responded to a job advertisement requesting ‘fearless girl skin-divers’ to swim with sharks, stingrays and other swimming companions. Many of these women went on to become the Marineland Mermaids, who were amongst the first divers employed at what was then known as Sydney Marineland.
Who are these girls? Where are they today? What is their best memory of Manly’s treasured oceanarium?
If this is of interest, we would love if you would assist us on the search for the original Marineland Mermaids to reconnect history and give Manly Sea Life Sanctuary the farewell it deserves.
Australians who can help us on our search are urged to visit our Facebook page and share their details on our call-out post.
