Miss Snail Pail: Living Sea Sculpture- MUSA Cancun, Mexico

kickstarter Living Sea Sculpture
Update #9: Progress in Cancun

What a full-tilt adventure! We completed the land-build of Living Sea Sculpture. No less than 14 anchors to hold it to the seafloor once installed. Plans to deploy and wire the electrical are delayed due to further contracts that emerged in the final hours. Without power to catalyze a protective layer of minerals, the steel will rust and dissolve into the sea, so LSS is being stored until final clearance. Grateful we had such a resourceful team and collaborators to reach this milestone.
(getting to Puerto Cancun)

Pablo Pantoja located the site with me and was my local liaison/daily ally. (Better not begin listing all the huge support of the people in Mexico, never get through!! special thanks are at the bottom:)
Wendy Thompson and Terra Nyssa did a fish survey to observe environmental impact of the project; will fish and others quickly populate the sculpture once it is in place? Lots of rain and murky waters almost prevented them from snorkeling the site, but luckily the sun and ocean gave them one bright calm day.

Mike Gerzevitz captured some great interviews and footage of the making (as well as participated in the making). Here's a little timelapse for you:

Thomas Sarkisian helped immensely with forming the metal by hand, body and foot; and with Tom Goreau, prepared the power supply for phase 2--deploy. Will have to bring Thomas back over from Thailand to calibrate and install his BOLPS (Biorock On Land Power Supply prototype 3). Hope to return for phase 2 very soon! Hurricane season is stirring up, so we aim to process the paperwork and see what the weather holds.

Below is a photo tour of phase 1: making the DNA helices

the working model (12:1 scale) {photo by Clay Connally http://cscpictures.com/}

assessing the first workshop

setting up "open air studio" locating supplies and team...

at least 15 iguanas were studying the process.

we moved to Todo Inoxidable (stainless steel factory)

a roof to protect from the erratic downpours and intense sun.

access to tools and metalworkers.

see that smooth floor?? priceless! Mike's cutting away extra steel...

placing the expanded mesh, spot welding and cutting away the excess.

Joel Lopez is a master electrode welder. Fredy Ulloa de la Rosa is watching

Pablo protects his eyes with a common welder's mask--the hand.

Thomas and the team truly muscled that metal with grace and grimaces

we thought we were going to install the next day, alas...

the ship is there, but we have a contract to clear.

imagine corals and fish coming to bring this to life

in the waters of Punta Nizuc's tropical AquaFresh blue--that is the future 15 feet down.

(photos by Mike Gerzevitz http://mikegerz.com/Home.html
and Colleen Flanigan colleenflanigan.com)

For more from Dr. Tom Goreau about Biorock® and his take on Climate Change:

http://wn.co/OneClimate_interview_with_Coral_Reef_Expert_Thomas_Goreau_at_COP15_in_Copenhagen__1

And Sylvia Earle about the Coral Reefs--Rainforests of the Sea:

http://wn.com/Rainforest_Alliance_Coral_Reefs__Rainforests_of_the_Ocean

special thanks to Marcia de La Pena and Leif, Pablo Pantoja, Fredy Ulloa de La Rosa, Joel Lopez, Jason deCaires Taylor, Roberto Diaz, Mario and Enrique Chacon, Jaime Gonzales, Alain Ibanes, Todo Inoxidable - Guillermo, Suzie, and Jose Luis, Diego Gioseffi, Jorge Luis, Fernando, Lorenzo Guerrero, Kevin Watt, Karen Salinas, Rodrigo, Salvador, the staff of Aquaworld and Marenter, and of course, MUSA!...the long list continues of people who have offered creativity, skill, friendship, strength, and resources in Mexico.