Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — Additional pieces for the El Meco underwater museum in Isla Mujeres waters outside Cancun are set for installation this week. Náuticos de Quintana Roo will begin the underwater installation of three artificial reefs in Punta Sam on May 29.
The three artificial reefs are part of a program that has been implemented over the years to protect the area’s ecosystems by encouraging coral reef growth.
The installations will be done by Asociados Náuticos de Quintana Roo, Reef Aquaculture Conservancy (RAC), the National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INAPESCA), the Comprehensive Port Administration of Quintana Roo (APIQROO) and environmental consultants Dr. Claudia Padilla Souza, Alfredo Arellano Guillermo and C. Enric Valencia Aban.
The submergence of structures will take place from May 29 to June 1 with a team of approximately 20 people. The structures will be placed in El Meco so that visitors can appreciate the process of forming the artificial habitat.
At a press conference, Náuticos de Quintana Roo said they will be monitoring the artificial ecosystem, as well as the other 500 sculptures that were submerged years ago, in the three polygons of Punta Cancun, Punta Nizuc and Isla Mujeres.
The objective of the effort is the promotion and conservation of marine flora and fauna in this reef area as well as the diversification for the approximately 4,500 tourists who visit the area daily.
The structures will be anchored to the seabed to prevent the risk of detachment and damage in the event of hurricanes, with the next Atlantic tropical cyclone season already on the horizon.
The NGO Reef Aquaculture Conservancy (RAC) has developed these innovative structures called Net-Zero AragoReef for the restoration of coral reefs. The future projection is for this type of ecosystem to become a blue carbon capturer, which is being applied in other countries precisely for conservation.
Reef Aquaculture Conservancy (RAC) is a Mexican non-governmental organization committed to the restoration and conservation of coral reefs in Mexico and is the only NGO that has received support from the Net Zero Research Fund for two consecutive years.
