現實版全職美人魚翩翩起舞 “尾巴”造價1萬英鎊

Linden Wolbert travels the world as a full time professional mermaid and uses her custom-made 6ft tail to propel her through the water.
林登·沃爾伯特以全職美人魚身份周遊世界，在水中她藉助定製的6英尺長的魚尾拍水前進。

The 32-year-old free diver and model can swim to depths of 115ft and uses her skills to promote ocean conservation and education. She can hold her breath underwater for up to five minutes.
32歲的自由潛水者兼模特林登·沃爾伯特可以潛到水下115英尺，她通過展示她的才能來達到推進海洋生態保護和教育目的。她可以在水下憋氣長達5分鐘。

Linden, from Los Angeles, California, said: 'I grew up as a water baby. My parents are both competitive swimmers.'
來自美國洛杉磯的林登說，“我從小像一個水生娃娃那樣長大。我的父母都是游泳選手。”

'I always looked forward to going to the ocean for our summer vacation. I had a magnetism to the water.'
“我一直渴望夏天能到海里度假，海水對我有一種磁引力。”

'I've kind of always been a free diver but didn't realise the sport existed until ten years ago. Shortly thereafter, I when began training. Free diving is 70 per cent psychological. You have to be very calm and at ease in the water.'
“我開始只是一個自由潛水者，直到十年前我才接觸到這項運動。不久之後，我就開始接受訓練。自由潛水70%是心理戰，你在水中必須相當的冷靜並保持放鬆。”

Linden always dreamed of becoming a mermaid after growing up watching films like The Little Mermaid and Splash but it didn't become a reality until she got to know Hollywood special effects artist Allan Holt.
自林登長大後看了電影《海的女兒》，她就一直夢想成爲美人魚，但直到她認識了好萊塢特效藝術家艾倫-霍爾特，這個夢想才成爲現實。

They spent seven months working on the 35lb tail, which was made from a fibreglass mould of Linden's body.
他們花了7個月時間製作，先依照林登的身體制作了玻璃纖維模具，再打造出這條重35磅的尾巴。

It involved sealing a monofin inside high-quality silicone to make it hydro-dynamic and effective in the water.
爲了讓尾巴在水中產生高效動力，製作中使用了密封優質硅蹼。

The thousands of fish scales were painstakingly sculpted individually by hand out of clay before they were duplicated in fibreglass and then the final mould was injected with silicone. The whole project cost around £10,000 to complete.
尾巴上上千片魚鱗都是一片一片手工精心雕刻出來的，模具先是以陶土製作，再複製成玻璃纖維最後注入硅樹脂做成。整個工程總共耗費約10,000英鎊。

Linden said: 'I was introduced to Allan through a friend. He wanted my advice for an underwater music video. I happened to mention I'd always wanted a mermaid tail but had no idea where to begin. Allan said he'd help me straight away.'
林登說，“我是通過朋友和艾倫認識的，當時艾倫想問我關於水下音樂視頻的建議。我碰巧提到一直想有條美人魚尾巴但不知從何着手。艾倫說他可以直接幫我。”

'We set a budget at the start but then things happened. It ended up being way over but it was worth it. My friends and family were all there the first time I used it in the water. I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't believe it was finally happening.'
“我們最初設定了預算，但世事難料，雖然結果與預期有出入，但這是值得的。當我第一次用這條尾巴游泳時，我的朋友和家人都在場，我止不住地笑。真不敢相信夢想的事真的在發生。”

In some of these amazing images, Linden is seen swimming in Jellyfish Lake on the island of Palau, which used to be connected to the Pacific Ocean.
在這些驚豔的照片裏，我們可以看到林登在水母湖翩翩起舞，該湖位於太平洋上的帕勞羣島。

Since it has been cut off, it has become home to millions of jellyfish because they have no risk of predators. The 12,000 year-old lake is the only place in the world where you can swim safely among them - because the sea creatures have lost their sting.
由於與大陸隔離沒有被捕獵的危險，帕勞羣島成爲百萬水母的家。水母湖大約在1.2萬年前形成，是目前世界上唯一一處你可以安全地與水母同遊的地方，因爲它們的毒刺都退化了。