Mermaid swims across Firth of Forth to raise awareness of plastic pollution

Lindsey Cole, a ‘mermaid’ and adventurer, swam across the Firth of Forth wearing a tail made out of 52 recycled swim suits.

She splashed across the estuary on Friday afternoon, passing under the Forth Bridge during her swim.

This is not her first mermaid adventure. In 2018, she swam the length of the River Thames in her tail – saving a drowning calf along the way.

Ms Cole’s objective for the swim was to raise awareness of the plastic pandemic and its effects on wildlife. However, she was not expecting to directly rescue an animal on her 200-mile journey.

The ‘urban mermaid’ was swimming through Oxfordshire, when she saw what she thought was a giant white plastic bag.

However, as she got closer, she realised that it was a cow, which had fallen into the water from a riverbank. Her support team called the RSPCA, and six firemen came to pull the stricken animal out of the river.

This experience inspired Ms Cole to write a children's book – The Mermaid and the Cow. In the book, which is aimed at kids aged three to eight, she hopes to inspire young readers to help save our animal friends from plastic pollution.

Lindsey Cole, an 'urban mermaid', who is hoping to raise awareness of the plastic pandemic with her adventure swim across the Firth of Forth.

Now, she is taking her story to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This week, she is performing daily at The Space at Surgeons Hall.

"Climate change can be a daunting issue”, Ms Cole said. “So through being a mermaid and storytelling, it's a way to talk about serious topics in an engaging, entertaining and lighthearted way”.