The Real Little Mermaid: This Black Woman Is Diving To Preserve Coral Reefs — And Black History

BY JANNA A. ZINZI

“The ocean is for everyone,” states Alannah Vellacott, 33, after a morning of snorkeling amid thriving and vibrant coral that borders stark white-reef graveyards. As she playfully dived and gracefully glided through the shimmering canals of Grand Bahama Island, pointing out the diverse species, the depths of her passion were as crystal-clear as the water.  This “born, bred and Bahamian” marine ecologist, a real-life Black “Little Mermaid,” is on a mission to protect the ocean and the waters that raised her. “The ocean is in need of everyone,” she stresses.   

For over a decade, Vellacott has been working in marine research, conservation and education in the Bahamas; she is now the coral-restoration specialist at Coral Vita, the world’s first commercial, land-based coral farm for reef restoration. To help coral “live their best life,” her tasks vary from cleaning algae off the sessile organisms growing at the farm to replanting new, healthy coral in nearby reefs. She is a fierce climate advocate, reminding her audience of more than 26,000 on Instagram that we can protect our oceans by reducing single-use plastics, like water and shampoo bottles, as well as plastic-wrapped produce—and also by voting for politicians who prioritize sustainability solutions. “Little things add up,” she affirms. 

Vellacott is also an underwater model who has been featured in a campaign for Brandon Blackwood’s first swimwear collection. And the GoPro ambassador is the first Bahamian Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) “Ambass-adiver,” showing the world that Black women can be divers, scientists and ocean protectors.  

Her commitment to coral is deeply tied to her love for her homeland. Coral reefs protect coasts against storm surges, waves and erosion, particularly those experienced during hurricanes—and 80 percent of Caribbean reefs have already died, according to Coral Vita.  

Acres of barren trees line the roads of Grand Bahama Island, as a reminder that Hurricane Dorian left communities underwater for days in September 2019. Vellacott notes that climate change has adversely affected the island dating back to 1999, when Hurricane Floyd destroyed homes and livelihoods—causing many people to leave the island nation permanently. Now, she’s on a mission of preservation every time she enters the great deep.   

“I think I was just born to be this water person,” Vellacott says. She grew up in a home that bordered the canals, and her neighbors were subsistence fishermen. “Ten steps away from my backyard, I had access to turtles, sharks and fish that would swim up to my feet,” she recalls. When she wasn’t in school, she was swimming and fishing with friends. Her father was a biology teacher and would often offer facts about the aquatic creatures she saw. “All of that turned into this passion for the ocean,” she reflects. “I had no idea that it was teeing me up for a career in marine science.”  

Her time at the prestigious Cape Eleuthera Island School in Eleuthera, another island in the Bahamas, and an internship studying sharks led her to marine studies. According to Zippia.com, only 3.2 percent of marine scientists in the U.S. are African-American—and as one of a small number of Black women in the industry globally, Vellacott says that representation matters deeply. “I’ll find myself on boats and I’m the only female, and I’m most definitely the only Black person,” she says. “Or I’ll be in a scientific space and I’m either the only woman or the only Black person, or one of very few.” Recently she linked up with Black in Marine Science (BIMS), an organization founded by Tiara Moore, Ph.D., to help more Black Bahamians get scuba-certified. She emphasizes the importance of opening doors for Black women in her field. “If I’m going be the first in a space, I need to be ‘the last first,’” she says. 

She acknowledges the power of media representation to inspire Black and Brown youth interested in diving or marine science. Vellacott was a diver featured in the Samuel L. Jackson–produced docuseries Enslaved, which explored the transatlantic slave trade via sunken ships on the ocean floor. She firmly believes that children of color need to see scientists and divers who look like them, in order to believe it’s possible for them to join the field.  

Black children aren’t the only ones who benefit from seeing this kind of representation, as it’s never too late to take an interest in exploring the ocean. Her advice to African-American women who are curious about diving is to “be brave”—while also accepting that ancestral trauma and lack of access are real when one’s encountering the water. “The ocean was a punishment or a grave for some of us,” Vellacott states. But we can reclaim the water. She points to the increasing number of Black mermaids—connecting through hashtags like #BlackScubaDivers and the Instagram account #AfroMermaid—as a means of inspiration.  

“Look at me thriving in the water,” says Vellacott. “Black people can swim. The ocean is within all of us.”