Sculptures in underwater museum victim of neglect

The Side Underwater Museum, Turkey's first underwater museum, is in a state of deterioration due to the lack of maintenance and poachers' anchors despite the ban.

The museum was built by the Antalya Chamber of Shipping in 2015 around Side in the southern province of Antalya's Manavgat district with a cost of 400,000 Turkish Liras. In the museum, which was visited by 30,000 people in its first year, there are 117 sculptures in five different themes. The making of sculptures was completed in nine months.

In three sections, located at a depth of 11, 18 and 22 meters, 1.5 miles off Side, there are statues depicting the War of Independence, the camel caravan in deserts, the Mevlevi, and the mythological sea god Poseidon, which is the biggest and most striking among the others.

Visited by an average of 70,000 people until 2021, the museum offers diving enthusiasts a fantastic view. But the museum is the victim of negligence nowadays. Many of the moss-covered statues at the bottom of the sea, which have become nests for fish, are either broken or fell as they are disconnected from their bases.

Although all kinds of hunting are prohibited around the area, where the Side Underwater Museum is located, nets thrown by poachers also cover the statues. The anchors thrown to stabilize the boats and fishing also destroyed some of the statues, revealing the iron skeleton inside.

Şahin Gerçek, the owner of a diving school in Side, stated that the appearance is ugly and that anchors can also harm holidaymakers who want to go for a dive.

"Both professionals and amateurs can dive in this area. We are worried that the museum has been neglected. Since 2015, no one has been interested. The ghostly nets have overturned the statues. We have...