"Guardian of the Reef"

A New Underwater Sculpture
For the Promotion of Diving Tourism

Presented by
Simon Morris

Proposal for Underwater Bronze Sculpture to increase diving tourism

The placement of underwater statuary to increase diving tourism
to a specific destination is now a proven success.

Forty years after the placement of the concrete statue “Christ of the Abyss” in Florida, local operators still spend a combined average of over US$ 50,000.00 per year promoting it in the major U.S. diving publications. This would not be so if the statue did not attract significant tourism revenues to the site.

The General Manager of Sunset House Resort in Grand Cayman, site of the 9 foot/3metre bronze mermaid since November of 2000, claims that the resort received over US$300,000.00 worth of free publicity within six months of placing the mermaid underwater.

No-one argues the success of sinking ships as artificial reefs to attract diving tourism. The placement of high quality sculpture can generate similar numbers at a small fraction of the cost, in a much shorter time window, and less potential environmental impact.

Description of the sculpture

Guardian of the Reef is a new sculpture 13 feet tall, representing a mythological creature comprising the top half of a warrior-guardsman wearing ancient Greco-Roman armour & decorated breastplate, carrying a circular shield and a trident.

At waist level, the sculpture morphs into a Sea Horse, the same way a mermaid is a morph between a human female and a fish. The guardian’s helmet is a stylized sea horse head, and a dorsal fin protrudes from the back of the breastplate.

The tail is coiled around a heavy bronze ring embedded in a Roman column, which acts as his sentry post.

The column is aged, and shattered, with many open spaces revealing a “Reef ball” style perforated inner cement column that actually becomes part of the natural reef over time.

The symbolism reflects that the oceans need our protection, but are being neglected.

(Rough clay sketches pictured, click to enlarge in a new window)

For more information including other pictures and data on other
statue installations, please download the entire proposal here:

Guardian of the Reef