Meet the woman who makes $300-an-hour as a professional mermaid - who can hold her breath for three minutes underwater and says her tail feels like a "second skin".

Felicia Flaherty, 28, has been modelling in ad campaigns and performing in aquariums and tanks at parties as a mermaid for four years.

She is part of a growing community of mermaids and mermen who are either professionals or just do it to socialise and get active - and can even hold her breath for three-and-a-half minutes.

She wears an ultra-realistic $3,300 silicone tail when she performs and says "business is booming" since the release of Disney's 'Little Mermaid' remake.

Before she was a mermaid she was a full-time model and actress, and the face of major hair salon chains in the US.

She did TV commercials and runway shows, but has also worked as a lifeguard and swimming teacher for toddlers.

Felicia, from Tampa, Florida, US, said: “I love being a professional mermaid because of the joy I bring to others and share with others.

“The wonder, awe, and inspiration I share through the performance art of being a mermaid or shooting underwater is unlike anything else I have experienced.”

“When I swim normally it feels like something is missing - like I’m not going anywhere.

“Anybody can be a mermaid, no matter who they are. My tail feels like my second skin.”

Felicia has modelled and acted since her late teens and was in the swim team at school.

She became a certified scuba and a free diver in 2018, before landing the part in an underwater commercial for a mattress company in July 2018.

She said: “It was my first time performing underwater, combining my two passions. I was instantly obsessed.

“Everything I had done up to that point in my life led to that, and from then on I started looking for ways to act and perform in the water.”

Now Felicia is a full-time mermaid, doing performances and photoshoots - including one shoot at a shipwreck 90 feet underwater.

When she performs, she said the reactions are “amazing” from people of all ages.

She said: “The best is when mermaids blow ‘bubble kisses’ against the side of the tank or aquarium.

“It creates a perfect circle and kids usually jump up and down in delight and surprise, and some even blow kisses back. It’s very sweet.”

Felicia added: “It is definitely not comfortable and takes a lot of practice to look comfortable underwater.

“I don’t use any equipment other than my two lungs, and water can go up your nose and hurt your eyes.

“People are always intrigued when I tell them about my job. But luckily, I haven’t had any bad reactions yet - at least not to my face.”

Follow Felicia @FeliciaWithFins.