Miss Michigan Mermaid Elyssa “Oceanic-E” Steward of Oscoda swam with dozens of little mermaids at Lake Superior State University (LSSU) James Norris Event Center on Saturday afternoon as a role model for environmental protection.
Steward, who started swimming at the age of seven, is a 2017 Texas State University alumni collegiate swimmer.
She went on to coach varsity swim at Oscoda Area Schools, where she currently teaches. Steward is experienced in scuba diving and synchronized swimming. She is a certified divemaster, rescue diver, and free diver.
But driving her forward is so much more than all that.
“My goal is to target kids at a young age to teach them about body positivity from a friendly community that also fights for conservation,” Steward said.
The mission of Miss Mermaid USA is to help save the earth's waters by speaking out against plastic and other harmful waste materials, while promoting marine protection.
Steward has chosen to take on polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.
“Oscoda is ground zero for PFAS contamination,” Steward said. “Being a Great Lakes mermaid, I fight for a nonprofit that addresses the PFAS contamination coming out of Oscoda that is seeping into groundwater, creating foam on Lake Huron, and traveling through the Great Lakes.”
According to the State of Michigan, Wurtsmith Air Force Base served as a combat crew and bomber training base throughout its 70-year history. The base played an important role in World War II, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf War. It was officially closed in 1993.
“Before that, they were running firefighting drills,” Steward explained. “They were spraying all this foam everywhere, and there was no remediation for it. It seeped into all of our groundwater, and we started noticing this foam building up on all the lakes. There was PFAS in the foam, a man-made chemical that is non-decomposable by nature and very hazardous.”
Major health effects associated with PFAS include pregnancy risks, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, changing immune response, cancer, liver damage and birth defects.
Steward has met with Congressman Dan Kildee who created a PFAS Task Force in 2019 to address the public health threat.
The task force is responsible for organizing informational events, meeting with congressional members, crafting legislation, and fighting for the federal appropriations needed to clean the contamination.
As Miss Michigan Mermaid, Steward has taken advantage of the opportunity to educate kids just like Ruby Weber, seven, of St. Marys Catholic School.
"My favorite mermaid is Miss Michigan Mermaid," Weber said. "She does a lot of nice stuff. She helps and teaches everyone."
LSSU Norris Center Operations Coordinator Steve Habusta was more than happy to invite Steward to the pool and hockey game over the weekend.
"Mermaids are hot in the three-year-old circuit right now," Habusta said, smiling as his daughter swam around in her own little mermaid fins. "This is like little girl (kid) Heaven."
There was no charge to families who took their children to the Norris Center pool. Habusta hoped to put on a fun family and community event.
All that helping and teaching has earned Steward a trip to Washington, DC, where she was one of 25 finalists selected to compete for Miss Mermaid USA. Competitions involved underwater modeling, swimming skills, stage presence, and community activism.
Learn more and ask your questions when you visit Steward’s Oceanic_E website, here:
“If you want to know more about me, let’s start at the beginning. I have always loved the water and the creatures living in it. I swam in my first tank full of sharks when I was 4 years old at Disney World. This gave me a yearning that could not be stopped – I had to know more. As a preteen, my mom took a travel assignment to Maui, Hawaii. Here, I was obsessed with freediving and spent more time in the water than I did on the island. As an adult, I have tried to obtain every kind of water certificate possible. Not only was I a collegiate swimmer for Texas State University, but I also finished up my Divemaster, Rescue Diver, and Free Diving certificates there. I am currently the aquatics director at a school in Michigan. I work as a varsity swim coach, water aerobics instructor, swim lessons instructor, head lifeguard, and sometimes a substitute teacher. It is my mission to use the power of influence that mermaiding has given me to teach students of every age how to swim in the water while learning to respect it and help keep it clean.”
