A proposal to sink a second mermaid statue off the Grand Cayman shoreline is in limbo for now, while the creators behind the artwork seek new partners.
Simon Morris, a Canadian sculptor who has already made three statues – including two underwater – for Cayman, says he and author Nicholas Harvey, on whose book the new mermaid is based, are looking for interested parties to make the project a reality.
The duo earlier had linked up with Living the Dream dive operation at the George Town waterfront. The plan had been to place the so-called Angel of the Reef bronze statue in front of the dive shop’s location, at Soto’s Reef, also known as Cheeseburger Reef, to encourage divers and snorkellers to visit it.
Gary Frost, who along with his wife Liz, owns Living the Dream, said of that plan this week, “Unfortunately, we’re not able to move forward with it at the moment.”
Though disappointed, they said they will be glad to share information or help with any other partners Morris and Harvey may find to complete the work.
In October last year, Cabinet approved a coastal works licence that granted permission for the 9-feet-tall statue to be placed at the reef, at a marine reserve just outside of the George Town anchorage area.
Morris said there were no hard feelings over Living the Dream bowing out of the project, but he’s hopeful that other companies or organisations might step forward to help bring the statue to Cayman and find it a home.
Morris is the creator of the Amphitrite mermaid at Sunset House’s reef in George Town, and the Guardian of the Reef at Divetech ‘s reef at Lighthouse Point, as well as Tradition in Heroes Square in George Town.
The idea for the statue came about in 2022 after Harvey consulted Morris for technical advice on how to sink a statue underwater for a novella he was writing called ‘Angels of the Deep’. Morris ended up being a character in the book, under his real name as the sculptor of the statue.
In the book, the statue came to an abrupt end, blown up by a would-be assassin who was targeting a member of the royal family who had come to Cayman to unveil the underwater artwork.
In real life, the 9-foot-tall statue, which would also feature a stingray and turtle, has not yet been built, but Morris has made prints and 18-inch models of it.
In an interview with the Compass in 2024, he said he became “infatuated” with the idea of creating the fictional statue.
Harvey told the Compass he hoped the mermaid that first made an appearance on the pages of the novella would find her way into local waters.
“Amphitrite and Guardian of the Reef have become icons of Cayman Islands diving, recognised worldwide,” he said. “If you showed a keen diver a picture of ‘The Mermaid’ as she’s known to most, they’ll tell you that’s in Grand Cayman.
“Angel of the Reef will be the same, so the important thing is to find the perfect location where divers coming to the islands will have it on their checklist, just like the other big attractions.”
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