The latest statue to be added to Cancún’s famous Underwater Sculpture Museum is a two-ton statue called “Blessings.” The work of Cuban artist Elier Amado Gil, the sculpture of a hand extended in a papal blessing stands two and a half meters high and was unveiled during the Tianguis. It will be submerged later this summer and is the first in a series of six to be located in the new Chitales underwater gallery near the reef of the same name.

Five hundred statues and group exhibits already grace the Underwater Museum in the two “galleries” near Manchones and Nizuc Reefs and they have become a habitat for fish, sponges, corals, sea fans and other species. This new underwater attraction is helping alleviate visitor pressure on local reefs and giving them a chance to recover. What’s more, as they are colonized by marine creatures, the statues themselves are being transformed into reefs, bringing life to areas of the seabed that were previously only sand.

Local divers have reported schools of up to 100 grey angelfish in Manchones where they had been absent for years. And in the same location, the eight-ton Volkswagen beetle sculpture titled Anthropocene has been nicknamed “Lobster City,” due to the number of lobsters that now make their home in it.

Marine Park authorities are also raising fragments of live coral in a nursery in the hope that they may also be transplanted to the statues to form new colonies of healthy coral.

Founded in 2009 by Jaime Gonzalez Cano, Director of the Cancún-Isla Mujeres National Marine Park, Roberto Díaz Abraham, President of the Nautical Association at the time, and British artist and conservationist Jason deCaires Taylor, the museum is the largest of its kind in the world. The first 200 statues are the work of deCaires Taylor and five other artists have collaborated along the way. The goal is to incorporate more statues to the collection, like any contemporary art museum.

Snorkeling and diving trips to the museum are available through Thomas More Travel and for those who don’t want to get wet, the Sub Sea Explorer semi submarine takes you to the Nizuc gallery. The museum also has a small visitors center on the second floor of Kukulcán Plaza where an additional 26 statues are on display.

Photo courtesy of ©Jason deCaires Taylor, Cancun Underwater Sculpture Museum