RIO DE JANEIRO - Davi Moreira looks like any other young Rio de Janeiro beach lover as he heads down to the Ipanema surf each week - at least until he dons his blue mermaid's tail.

Other bathers look on in astonishment as Moreira, 22, performs his weekly ritual. However, as part of a trend in Brazil and as far away as the Netherlands and Canada, he is far from alone.

"It's a lifestyle, a way of expressing my love and respect for the sea and this encounter between two worlds. When I'm in the water I feel like another person," he said while resting on rocks with his tail glittering in the sun.

Like many who feel the need to dress up as mermaids and swim with the up and down motion of the broad tail, Moreira was inspired from childhood by Disney's popular animated movie The Little Mermaid.

His bedroom is full of references to the movie: bedcover, cups, shirts, dolls, pictures ...

But Moreira says not everyone accepts his passion. Some insult him, while others suggest he get psychological help.

Moreira says his mermaid obsession is an answer to a "cruel" world.

"People laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh back because they are all the same," he said. "I'm not trying to escape reality. I know perfectly well how to deal with adult life. But this makes me happy and I'm not causing anyone any harm."

The trend has also extended to the small screen, with the popular telenovela A Forca de Querer featuring a character played by Brazilian actress Isis Valverde who seduces two men - and the audience - with her free spirit and love of taking a dip in a big orange mermaid tail.

Behind Valverde's on-screen swimming skills is Mirella Ferraz, who describes herself as Brazil's "first professional mermaid" .

Ferraz, 34, estimates there are about 1,000 mermaid aficionados in Brazil and that the numbers are rising. Online sales of her mermaid tails reach about 90 a month now, up from just 10 in 2012.

"For many it might be a fad, but not for me," Moreira says, admitting that his only weakness as a Brazilian mermaid is an inability to sing.

Agence France-Presse