Tallest underwater figurative sculpture

The record for tallest underwater figurative sculpture is currently tied between two very similarly sized artworks located on opposite sides of the planet. The 5-m-tall (16-ft 5-in) and 60-tonne (66-US-ton) Ocean Atlas, designed by marine artist and conservationist Jason deCaires Taylor (UK), was installed as part of the Nicholas Nuttall Coral Reef Sculpture Garden off New Providence in Nassau, the Bahamas, in 2014. The name of the sculpture refers to the Greek Titan Atlas who legend has it bore the heavens on his shoulders, whereas Ocean Atlas depicts a local Bahamian girl, named Camilla, who metaphorically bears the oceans instead. The rival for this title, Anthozoa, is also 5 m tall - though if the supporting footings are included that rises to 6 m (19 ft 8 in). Depicting a coral polyp (upscaled by around 5,000 times), this c. 40-tonne (44-US-ton) artwork was created by Australian artist Jessa Lloyd. It is situated at a depth of 8.8 m (29 ft) in Langford Reef, part of the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, and was installed on 2 March 2020.

Ocean Atlas is made from stainless steel, pH-neutral cement, basalt and aggregates. The artwork was commissioned by the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF) in a bid to draw some tourism away from natural reefs, where too many visitors can have a negative impact on the environment. Foundation pilings securing the sculpture in place extend 1 m (3 ft 3 in) into the sandy seabed. The sculpture was so large that the artwork had to be cast in sections and then assembled in situ underwater. The artist said at the time: “Everything is a hundred times harder in the sea and getting precision parts together underwater was a huge challenge. The technique I used incorporated digital upscaling and a CNC routed mould which had never been done before in a marine environment, so it was the first time and quite nerve-wracking.”

Anthozoa is part of the Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art Project, an initiative that was put in place after the destruction wreaked in the region by Cyclone Debbie in 2017. Its "skeleton" (based on a 3D scan of a real coral polyp) is made from more than 1,000 linear metres of steel with pH-neutral concrete then poured around it. Anthozoa also features the work of Ngaro artist Nicky Bidju Pryor, a piece based on his dreams which sits at the heart of the sculpture.

Both sculptures were made with conservation front of mind, and are designed to be colonized by real coral over time as well as to provide a habitat for a plethora of marine creatures that call the reef their home.