A sea of faces,

With Jason De Caires there are schools of glittering silver-white fish swoop past a statue of a man hunched over a workbench, the first seabed artwork in a new underwater museum in Mexico's Caribbean Sea. The cement sculpture, called "The Collector," shows a figure who records bottled treasures in logbooks. It weighs four tons and is anchored 26 feet under the sea. Divers watch a yellow tail dam selfish nibble on algae growing from the sculpture's pant leg, which its creators hope will eventually sprout colorful coral. The aim is to lure some of the 800,000 tourists who visit Cancun's vast marine park each year -- many during April's Easter week holiday -- away from natural coral reefs battered by hurricanes, pollution and global warming. About 400 life-size casts will be submerged off the resort of Cancun by the end of 2010. It is hoped that the low-acidity cement figures, designed to be anti-corrosive and mimic rock, will be transformed over time into artificial reefs. Some will be in shallow waters for snorkelers to enjoy. The 400 figures, weighing 180 tons in total and to be named "Silent Evolution", will be submerged in a barren, flat expanse of the park, which lies between Cancun and nearby islands.

"I wanted to make an impressive landscape where you can swim through a sea of faces," said Jason de Caires Taylor, the British artist behind the "Sub aquatic Museum".With some of the sculptures carved from living corral art view guesses he did, form some what of a fascination even if it only to the marine species.