Kicking frantically with his imaginary legs, John managed to hit at least some of the right motor impulses, generating enough force to carry his new body to the surface. He surfaced about thirty yards from the boat and tried to call out, but didn't realize that his lungs were full of seawater (seemingly the lungs were dual-function, as this mermaid bodyhad nogills.)
John was in the process of franticaly exhaling the water in hopesof shouting to the boat's occupants when he saw something horrifying: his old body, now apparently inhabited by the mermaid, was looking itself up and down in confusion as Jenna blathered on about something. Confusion turned to awe, and then to satisfaction. The mermaid turned towards him. No words were spoken, but the message on the face of John's old body was clear: I'm keeping this. Before John could cry out, the former mermaid reached to the boat's controls and slammed the throttle forward.
The boat sped off, and John watched in despair. There was no hope of catching up when he could barely make this tail work in the first place, and they were several miles out to sea. John realized that he (or was itshe?) wasstuck in this mermaid body for an indefinite amount of time.