Inside the underwater world of America's last mermaid show: These are the women who wear Even mermaids have fat days. Underneath their sequined tails and sea shell bikinis, Weeki Wachee Springs' real-life Ariels wear thick nylon stockings to 'hide the jiggle' for the benefit of patrons of the world-famous Florida theme park. But this isn't the only secret of the deep the 'live mermaids' are willing to share about their passion for lip-synching, somersaulting and high-tailing underwater. Fishy: Live mermaids have to compete with schools of small fish and turtles - and the occasional manatee - for the crowd's attention Unique: Weeki Wachee is apparently 'the world¿s only city of live mermaids' Amid the flurry of wardrobe changes, make-up reapplications and showers, the seaweed-covered cast has learned to do away with modesty - all in the name of glamor. 'You can't be shy here - we're all like family,' one mermaid told the New York Times. Each performer has their own make-up technique, but is willing to share her aquatic beauty tips with fellow mermaids. Some wear black fishnet stockings over their faces to create a scale pattern. Others dab metallic green and purple eye shadow around their temples for the fishy effect. The key is ensuring it stays on as they lap the tank, which is 100 feet from one side to the other. Assisted breathing: Even mermaids need a bit of help, taking in oxygen from giant tanks through discreet hoses Legal: Only women aged 18 and over can become mermaids, but 16-year-olds have been hired in the past Weeki Wachee started out as a swimming hole, a natural spring 117 feet deep that feeds the seven-mile-long Weeki Wachee River. But in 1947, local entrepreneur Newtown Perry turned it into 538-acre state park. The diver built the 18-seat theater into the limestone at the edge of a spring, submerging two airlocks into the rocky base and developed air hoses so swimmers could free-dive 20 feet down. He recruited pretty young girls to swim underwater, teaching them synchronized-swimming routines that were making attractions like Cypress Gardens so popular. The girls - mainly school age - drank Grapette and ate bananas while sitting on a ledge underwater. In 1959, the American Broadcasting Company bought the park and the next decade was considered Weeki Wachee's 'heyday'. Finally getting paid, the cast put on nine shows a day for more than 500,000 visitors a year. But when Disney hit the block in 1971, the park's fortunes wavered. Tourists chose the big theme parks over the live mermaid show. Weeki Wachee was close to failure when, in 2008, the park was donated to the state of Florida, converting it into Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. Things started looking up for the park and its mermaids. Mermaids enter the spring through a concrete tube which drops 14 feet down and 64 feet out, popping out at the rocky shelf so it looks like they're swimming up from the depths of the spring Cheap: Patrons pay $13 entry to see live mermaids perform up to four shows a day in the Newton Perry Underwater Theater Equal opportunity: Women of all sizes are encouraged to don the mermaid tail and dive in Calling the shots: The director guides shows from a control booth using a microphone that is amplified underwater to talk to swimmers Now former mermaids say the park is 'the' place to work for women seeking to find their inner Ariel. We get really large women. Every shape and size,' Barbara Wynns, who officially stopped working for Weeki Wachee in 1975, told the New York Times. 'We're suspended mid-water like embryonic fluid. 'If you're a water person, then you're at home. 'Just because you don't live in a fantasy world doesn't mean we don't exist. There are mermaids everywhere. Shapewear: Even mermaids have fat days, with some wearing thick nylon stockings under their tails to firm their wobbly bits Fantasy: Waving and smiling, this mermaid reportedly swam 100 feet without appearing to need to breathe