Ariel out of his Shell
personal merblog
🌊 Join me on my journey beneath the waves — exploring the sea 🐠 and becoming more extroverted ☀️
Stories from beneath the surface — exploring identity, self-expression, and building a space where merfolk from the North Sea can connect, swim, and be fully themselves.
The Story
Of Ariel out of his Shell
Through this blog, I share stories from beneath the surface — about discovering mermaiding, embracing self-expression, and creating community for adult merfolk.
My mission? To bring together merpeople from the North Sea and swim together once a month in celebration of who we are.
“Join me on a journey of self-expression — and of building a home for adult merfolk.”
Becoming Ariel
A Merman Emerges
My Stories
Moments from my mer-life: from my first tail to organising events, and everything in between.
Monthly Mermaid Swimming
After our successful performance at LoveSwim and the growing interest in mermaiding, my swimming club will make one lane available for mermaiding during regular training sessions, on every first Friday of the month.
Opening show for Aart-Jan & Bert’s anniversary
Our performance at LoveSwim led to our first private booking outside our swimming club. Tomorrow, we’ll be back in the water for an opening show at the anniversary celebration of Aart-Jan and Bert.
Mermaid Demonstration at LoveSwim
For LoveSwim 2025, we gave a short mermaid swimming demonstration. With only four training sessions, it wasn’t a full synchronized show, but we’re proud to have shown how beautiful and fun mermaid swimming can be.
Photoshoot for LINDA.magazine
In July 2025, I appeared together with fellow merman Maurice in LINDA.magazine, a popular Dutch magazine, in a portrait series about adult mermen. In this blog, I explain how that came about and why I ultimately said yes.
Mermaid Convention Spain
My partner and I attended a mermaid event for the first time. As non-participants in the competition, we needed some time to find our place within the program. Over time, it became a learning experience, full of valuable encounters and new insights.
Finally a Pool for Mermaiding
During the summer, I was able to do mermaid swimming for half an hour at the end of the Friday training at my swimming club. After the summer, the extra half hour was unfortunately discontinued, but I remain hopeful that it will return.