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The Guardian of the Reef is due to be cast soon. The first of five castings will go to San Diego to be put on display in the bay area for an undetermined time. Then it will be installed in it's final location at a depth of 60 - 100 ft.
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.
To read more about Simon Morris, and see his other sculptures, check out his web-site http://www.morrissculpture.com/
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 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.
A single highly publicized and recognizable sculptural focal point will increase the international exposure of your destination, and as importantly, provide a location for first dives and novice checkouts to do a buoyancy check dive in an area that will lessen damage to your more delicate and sensitive reef dives.
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It is becoming a widespread problem in many destinations that the natural reefs are being trampled by divers with poor buoyancy skills. By giving divers an interesting first dive in an area that is not so sensitive, you will save wear and tear on the very reefs they have come to see. The financial success of the mermaid in Grand Cayman has become well known in the industry, and that there is now a growing demand for new sculptures to place underwater in the same fashion. This proposal presents a new and even more ambitious sculpture to be made available for that purpose.
Read more about Simon Morris. View his other sculptures and even purchase a scaled replica for yourself. (Simon Morris Sculptures) |
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