Providing shelter and food for a multitude of plants and animals, coral reefs are some of the most vibrant and diverse ecosystems on the planet. Today, due to factors ranging from sunscreen-polluted waters to warming ocean currents, reefs are dying off at an alarming rate, leaving barren underwater deserts. Luckily, artist Jason deCaires Taylor has a clever and beautiful solution. Looking much like the Chinese terracotta army, Taylor has installed 400 life-size human figures on the Cancun sea floor. Made of marine-grade concrete, each figure acts as a growing medium for new reef. Titled “Silent Evolution,” the piece will continue to grow over centuries and will never be truly complete.
For more on this green and growing art piece and for information about visiting it by scuba, see underwatersculpture.com.
![manila-cemetery-15[2]](http://cdn.visualnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/manila-cemetery-152-125x125.jpg)
Hmm… not too sure I like this one. Great concept, but a bit creepy – wouldn’t like to be a diver who accidentally stumbles upon 400 “dead” people at the bottom of the ocean!
1) in the future divers will probably know this exists… in fact they will probably be diving to see the sculptures.
2) I think this is a great idea, if we can save some sepcies from extinction, that’s great, if we can do it with art, that’s even better!!!
but yeah…. it looks a little creepy……