Bronze Beauty: The Mermaid of Grand Cayman

A 9-foot-tall, 600-pound bronze mermaid statue was recently put in place at Sunset Reef in 55 feet of water off Grand Cayman. The sculpture, created by 42-year-old Canadian artist Simon Morris, is officially named Amphitrite, Siren of Sunset Reef. In mythology, Amphitrite was the queen of the seas, married to Poseidon, lord of the oceans. The name was chosen from contest entries to name the mermaid. A 14-year-old girl from the Philadelphia area submitted the winning entry and won a trip to Grand Cayman. A brief dedication ceremony was hosted on the water's edge by Sunset House general manager Keith Sahm, and included the artist, his family and representatives from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. This is the culmination of almost a year's worth of planning, said Sahm. We think that the mermaid will become one of those touchstones that every diver has either seen or knows about.The statue was then hoisted by crane into the water and towed into place about 130 yards offshore onto a concrete pedestal.Bubbles streamed from three small holes in the top of the hollow statue's head as she was lowered by rope from the boat's bow to divers in the water. Two curious angelfish and about 10 divers welcomed Amphitrite to her permanent resting place. By week's end, hundreds of divers had already visited her.