A gigantic underwater museum - Subaquatic Sculpture- filled with 400 sculptures will be created in Mexico’s West Coast National Park in on the Yucatan Peninsula. It is scheduled to open next month.

It will feature PH neutral concrete that will allow algae and small invertebrates to flourish, boosting the local ecosystem. The appearance of the sculptures will change over time as the coral reefs and marine life grow.

Nearly 300,000 tourists flock to the area each year and it is hoped that the underwater museum will lure them away from the area’s natural coral reefs.

Jaime Gonzalez, director of museum says: “The underwater museum will draw many tourists, allowing us to give a rest to the natural reefs. It’s like a restoration process”.

If everything goes according to plan, some 250 sculptures will have been submerged by April 2010. Each sculpture will be human sized and rest on a four square meter. Some parts of the museum will be theme based, such as the “Coral Collector” gallery and the “Dream Catcher” section which features bottles filled with messages sent by castaways. There will also be a series of sculptures depicting Maya warriors.

 ODC Travel