British artist Jason deCaires Taylor works on a statue called “Man on Fire” in the Cancún Underwater Museum.
The Cancún Underwater Museum is an unusual place. It is made up of hundreds of statues placed underwater. The museum lies on the ocean floor off the coast of Cancún. Cancún is a city in southeastern Mexico. British artist Jason deCaires Taylor and his team created the life-sized statues. Some of the statues were made to look like people who live in Cancún.
Taylor and others started the Cancún Underwater Museum to help the ocean’s plants and animals. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma caused great damage to Cancún and other places along the Caribbean Sea. The storm also destroyed coral reefs in the ocean. A coral reef is a rocklike feature that is home to many plants and animals.
In 2009, Taylor and his team worked to replace the damaged coral reefs. They made the statues to act as human-made reefs. Many sea plants and animals have already started to live among the statues. The statues also help keep visitors away from the coral reefs that were damaged.
In July 2012, 60 more statues were added to the Cancún Underwater Museum. It now has more than 450 statues. It is the largest museum of its kind. More than 750,000 people visit the museum each year. They view the statues by snorkeling, scuba diving, or riding in glass-bottom boats.
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