🧜‍♀️ Mermaid Mayhem: When a "National Treasure" Fish Turns Dinner Date into Dinner Disaster

October 25, 2025 3 min read

Picture this: A shimmering underwater ballet at a Chinese theme park, where giggling kids press noses to glass and a 22-year-old Russian mermaid glides like a mythical dream. Then—chomp. Mariia Zelenina, performing as "Masha" in a tail that could fool Poseidon himself, suddenly becomes the unwitting entrée for a critically endangered Chinese sturgeon, who lunges like it's auditioning for Jaws: Fin Edition. The massive fish engulfs her head in its gaping maw, mistaking her flowing hair or glittering headgear for a snack. No bites drawn, but the viral slow-mo? 50 million views and counting, turning a routine show into global gasp-fest.

🌊 The Splashy Setup: Fantasy Meets Finned Fury

It was January 28, 2025, at Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park in Yunnan's lush wilds—a sprawling eco-attraction blending jungle vibes with aquatic spectacles. Zelenina, a seasoned pro from Russia who'd been enchanting crowds for 10 months, was mid-performance in a massive tank teeming with "national treasures": Chinese sturgeon, those ancient, whiskered behemoths revered in China for their rarity (fewer than 1,000 left in the wild). These tank-raised giants, up to 3 meters long and 300kg, are fed a steady diet of pellets—not performers. But as Zelenina surfaced for a breath, one sturgeon rocketed from behind, vacuuming her head like a loose lure. "I didn't understand what was going on," she later told PEOPLE. "I began to push her away and get out of her mouth. When I surfaced, I realized I didn't have my glasses."

The crowd? Frozen in horror, kids' cheers flipping to screams as Zelenina thrashed free, surfacing with a bruised face, neck, and ego—but no broken skin. Her fellow mermaid? Watching from the shallows, wide-eyed. Park staff yanked the show, rushing her to hospital for checks. Rumors swirled: Bosses hushed her with a measly $100 payout and threats to stay silent? Zelenina shut that down hard—"I was immediately taken to the hospital... no rush to return, and no threats." She's back in the water once docs greenlight, treating it with "humor" because, as she quipped, "a lot of things can happen in life."

🐟 The Quirky Culprit: Sturgeon Shenanigans

Chinese sturgeon aren't your average guppies—they're "living fossils," dating back 200 million years, with vacuum-like mouths that slurp bottom-feeders. In the tank's frenzy (hundreds of fish, per viral clips), Zelenina's dark tresses or sparkly accessories must've screamed "easy meal." No malice, just marine mix-up. The park's no stranger to spectacle—mermaids draw crowds for that fantasy fix—but this clash spotlights the razor edge: Humans playing prey in a predator's pond. Conservationists cheer the species' spotlight (it's a protected icon), but whisper about tank stress turning treasures into terrors.

Post-incident, Zelenina's a reluctant celeb: Bruises faded, but the slow-mo replay's a meme machine, spawning edits with Jaws themes and "fish fail" captions. She's unfazed—"Of course, I was scared"—and eyeing safer gigs, maybe sans sturgeon.

Why This Swims Our Insolite Waters

At OffbeatEcho, we hook the half-submerged surprises—like how a mermaid's grace collides with a fossil fish's hunger, blending whimsy, wildlife, and a dash of danger. It's underreported whimsy: China's eco-parks as stages for surreal showdowns, proving fantasy's fine line with the finned real. Got your own aquatic oops or tail-spinning tale? Submit it here and let's dive deeper.

Sources: PEOPLE, The Tab, AOL, TMZ, LADbible. Share the splash: TikTok Reel Idea | X Thread