Diving community in B.C. celebrates 25th anniversary of the sinking of the Emerald Princess

One of B.C.’s most famous underwater attractions is celebrating an important milestone.

The world famous Emerald Princess was lowered into the waters near Powell River on the 16th March, 1989 — 25 years ago.

It is a 575-pound, nine-foot tall bronze mermaid statue that now sits 60 feet below the surface in Saltery Bay Provincial Park.

It is the creation of local sculptor Simon Morris.

But Morris says the wife of Jim Willoughby, a local diving legend, takes all the credit for coming up with the idea.

“It was Jodi who said we should put a mermaid underwater for divers, and that got us started.”

In 1986, Willoughby met Morris in a pub and started talking about the idea for the Mermaid.

“He said, I’d like to try that,” says Willoughby.

The two started drawing pictures, until Morris came up with a concept he liked.

And then, says Willoughby, he started carving.

“The guy was a magician. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life,” he says.

Once the sculpture was finished, the duo scouted a big boulder as a permanent home for the Emerald Princess.

“I designed the Mermaid such that she could brush against it. On the left side of her tail are two rods sticking out and we pre-drilled holes in the granite boulder,” says Morris.

With the help of a crane and a lift bag, the Mermaid was lowered to its permanent home at the bottom of Saltery Bay.

“We were looking for a spot that was going to be easily accessible for a shore dive, so that divers of all levels could dive there,” says Morris.

In the last 25 years, the statue has attracted divers from around the world.

Celebrities and explorers like Prince Philip and the Cousteau family have visited B.C.’s only underwater sculpture.

Read more on this story here.

Source: www.globalnews.ca