Every year, different celebrity “King Neptune” and “Queen Mermaid” ride with the mermaids to assist in officially welcoming the summer. Some of the past members of the Coney Island Royal Family have been David Byrne, Queen Latifah, Ron Kuby, Curtis Sliwa, Moby and Theo. They also participate in cutting ribbons to the ocean and sacrificing fruit to appease the sea gods.

This year's procession began with a show of gleaming antique cars driven by their proud owners. Some passengers were costumed, others simply attired in their everyday clothes. Many drivers were cocky, revving the wheels and leaving a cloud of smoke; other cars were spilling over with teenage beauty queens dressed in green and soaking up the admiration of onlookers.

As the mermaids made their way along the procession, the more outlandish groups had their moment in the spotlight. Costumes glittered with sequins and skulls and the colors of Mardi Gras. Not a single member of the crowd seemed modest or bashful, even the younger maids waved with pride to the crowd. People cheered, photographers ran madly, and everyone enjoyed laughing at some of the more humorous outfits, which included Uncle Sam, George W. Bush, a woman with a skull brassier with moving jaws, and a giant inflated Geek Squad Volkswagen Bug.

“The MIR Maids,” dressed in mint colored spandex dresses to honor the Russian Space station, were a highlight. They danced and squirted the crowd with water guns. A small group of children were dressed as members of the aquatic underworld: a school of stingrays, a jellyfish, and other distinct fish. The magnificent floats included a large pink bobbing elephant, an octopus doubling as an umbrella, and a gargantuan slice of coral.