The next several hours, Carrie continues exploring underwater, having a blast at the prospect of finally being able to explore it all. She completely forgets about how or why she is even underwater, it's simply far too interesting.
She finally decides that it could be interesting to change other fish into mermaids, or maybe swim back to the beach and change some people into mermaids, or try to perhaps establish a underwater colony, the possibilites were endless.
She reaches into her pocket to get the remote. Except, she can't get it. She looks down, and realises, she has no clothes, she has no pockets, she doesn't have the remote! Frantically, she begins searching around, no way can she be stuck like this, the only mermaid, with no idea of how she would actually survive underwater, but, no matter how hard she looks, she can't find it - it's gone.
Meanwhile, several hours earlier, back at the beach, the remote floates ashore, and a random stranger spots it.