As the sun rises above Onset Bay, brightly colored buoys tied to arms of swimmers can be seen bobbing in the water as the Onset Salty Merpeople come from all walks of life to celebrate a shared love of swimming.

The merpeople meet at Onset Beach most mornings to head out for a swim in the bay as a way to get the day started, stay healthy and build camaraderie in an otherwise lonely activity.

“The whole idea was to create a group so we’d attract swimmers so that we could all swim together,” merpeople cofounder Marese Bary-Belenger said.

A few years ago, Belenger, along with Peter Gold and Laura White, got together at the Gleason Family YMCA to form the group, which has since grown from the original three to now over 10 people, many of whom are training for a variety of events.

“We all did the Buzzards Bay Swim and we have one member who is currently in Maine at the moment and we have another member who is doing the escape from Alcatraz,” she said.

Patty Emmons is competing in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. The event features a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco, an 18 mile bike ride and a 8 mile run. Grace Pietsch is in Maine raising money for the YMCA of Southern Maine in the Peaks to Portland, a 2.4 mile swim along the coast.

Whether training for an upcoming race or simply getting out of the house in the morning, many members said what has grown the group is the camaraderie that forms between everyone.

“If you come down by yourself you do it a few times and you find excuses not to go,” said member Chris Galligan. “You get good pressure from others to say ‘every Monday I’m doing it’ and if you miss it someone says ‘where were you and we missed you.’”

Belen added having a group to swim with has helped keep the merpeople in the water year round, even when temperatures drop in the winter.

“When we start the season it’s frigid, so if you are coming on your own you would have all sorts of excuses to stay home drinking hot coffee but we’re committed,” she said.

One of the group's newer members and Wareham resident Jennifer Dekkers only recently took up swimming but said she has already seen improvements in just a few months.

“I’m not very used to open water swimming so just increasing the level of comfort and confidence is just so inspiring,” Dekkers said. “I have a personal goal to try and swim two miles and Marese always says ‘we’ll get you there’ and I’m 100% confident I will reach that goal.”

The merpeople also work closely with the Onset Bay Center and even assisted the Buzzards Bay Coalition when their annual swim was moved from New Bedford to Onset due to a potential sewage overflow into New Bedford harbor.

“We scoped out the path for the swim the day before and [the coalition] did alter the course a little bit because of the seaweed and things we ran into,” Galligan said.

While some members compete in high level swims, others are just starting out, which makes Onset Beach’s shallow waters perfect, according to Belenger.

“It’s very safe and you can stay shallow even at high tide,” she said.

Belen added the group is a mix of ages with some members being retired and others heading to day jobs after a morning swim.

“We’re all kind of interesting and unique in our own way and we’ve found our school,” she said.