World’s first underwater museum is making waves
A 2,500-SQUARE METRE PLOT OF THE SEA FLOOR HAS BEEN TURNED INTO THE WORLD’S FIRST UNDERWATER MUSEUM
Ared-and-white diving flag flies over a rigid inflatable boat and the six divers on board tumble backwards over the side.
On this sunny July morning in the waters off Arrecife, the capital of the Canary Island of Lanzarote, this is no ordinary scuba dive — it’s a trip to the museum.
Since January, a 2,500-square metre plot of the sea floor has been turned into the world’s first underwater museum, where the only way you can see the exhibits are as part of organised scuba trips.
On the sea floor, sculptures stand sentinel as shoals of sea bream and the occasional tuna and octopus swim by.
The idea is the brainchild of Jason DeCaires Taylor, an English-born artist and sculptor who combined his creative abilities with his passion for scuba diving.
While DeCaires Taylor has laid individual pieces off the shores of the a Bahamian island and in Cancun, Mexico, the Lanzarote museum is unique.
Helping marine species
“Museo Atlantico has been conceived as a place to promote education and preserve and protect the marine and natural environment as an integral part of the system of human values,” DeCaires Taylor says.
As well as featuring more than 100 individual pieces, the museum project is creating a huge artificial reef made up of a series of pH neutral cement sculptures which, over time, will help the marine biomass flourish and facilitate the reproduction of fish species off the island.
One piece, Lampedusa, is named after the Italian Mediterranean island where thousands of rescued refugees fleeing Libya are held for processing after being rescued from rickety boats on a last desperate attempt to reach Europe. It features sculptures of panicked refugees crowded on to a boat that in this instance — and like so many others — lies low forever on the ocean floor.
Museo Atlantico has been conceived as a place to promote education and preserve and protect the marine and natural environment.” Jason DeCaires Taylor| Artist-sculptor