30 boats with 30 student sculptures to be sunk in July
COMING SOON
AN UNDERWATER SCULPTURE GARDEN OFF THE COAST OF CARRICOU!
Thirty boats. Thirty young students, standing in stainless steel craft. You can look for them this fall off Carriacou's west coast, but don't look for them bobbing in the gentle seas of Carriacou and Petit Martinique. You need to look for them underwater!
No, we aren't exposing some mass sailing disaster. We are talking about a new work of art by the world-famous underwater artist Jason deCaires Taylor (PICTURED BELOW). His latest work, "A World Adrift," is set to create an underwater sculpture garden with the government's help.
“I am setting them down near a small rocky outcrop to the west of Carriacou called Jack O Dan,” Taylor told the Caribbean Camera. “A local marine dive services operation will be contracted to deploy the works under my supervision this July.”
“Crafted from high-grade stainless steel and pH-neutral green cement, each boat resembles paper origami to depict the fragility of the surrounding ecosystem,” reads a recent Grenada press release. “They are individual artificial reefs, meticulously designed to shelter surrounding marine life and boost overall aquatic biodiversity.”
The models, wearing junior high uniforms, were local school children from Carriacou and Petit Martinique. (PICTURED BELOW)
Coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea continue to be devastated by bleaching caused by rising water temperatures. Barren reefs, in turn, impact the local fishing industry, which is experiencing a steep decline in fish stocks.
Each boat and student in the underwater island garden will be artificial reefs, designed to protect the fish and coral off the island. The sail ropes on the boats, once they are sunk, double as coral nurseries, where fragments can be nurtured and eventually transplanted onto nearby reefs.
As the sculpture garden grows, so too will the island’s tourism industry. Scuba divers and snorkelers will flock to explore the Caribbean’s newest underwater attraction. The global feted artist Jason Taylor has, for almost 20 years, been creating and sinking underwater sculptures in oceans and seas around the world, including the island of Grenada. You can dive on his work in the
• Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, Grenada(PICTURED BELOW)
• Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), Cancun/Isla Mujeres, Mexico:
• Ocean Atlas, Bahamas:
• Museo Atlántico, Lanzarote, Spain:
• Coralarium, Maldives:
• Nexus, Norway: change on the marine environment.
• Museo Subacuático de Arte, Ayia Napa, Cyprus
The only son of an English father and Guyanese mother, 50-year-old Taylor was educated in the UK but has spent time in Grenada working in the dive industry. He had hoped to buy a dive shop on the island at the turn of the century. When that idea failed, he created his first underwater park in 2006. Eighteen years later, divers from all over the world come to Grenada to see the Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park 
It features a variety of sculptures, including "Vicissitudes," a circle of children holding hands)
It features a variety of sculptures, including "Vicissitudes," a circle of children holding hands)How come he is returning to the islands? “My first sculpture park has been very successful, and the government wanted to increase its sustainable tourism offering to these islands also,” Taylor explained.
This art installation pays homage to the island's rich history of boat building and its profound significance to the local community. It will be placed approximately 3-5 meters deep, ideal for snorkeling or diving. Carriacou is a 100-minute ferry boat ride from Grenada and a short 20-minute hop aboard the local Grenada shuttle out of Lauriston Airport in Hillsborough, the main town on the island of Carriacou. There are two full-scale dive shops on the island.
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