Turkey’s first underwater museum was built by the Antalya Chamber of Shipping in Side, Manavgat, with a cost of 400 thousand liras in 2015. The museum was visited by 30 thousand people in its first year and has 117 sculptures under 5 different themes.
There are statues of the War of Independence, the camel caravan in the deserts, the Mevlevi, and the mythological sea god Poseidon in 3 sections, located at a depth of 11, 18, and 22 meters, 1.5 miles off Side. Among the sculptures completed in 9 months, the biggest and most remarkable was the statue of the sea god Poseidon.
The anchors damaged the statues
The museum, which was visited by an average of 70 thousand people until 2021, offers diving enthusiasts an insatiable view. The museum draws attention with its neglect these days. Many of the moss-covered statues at the bottom of the sea, which are nests for fish, are either broken or lying on their sides after being disconnected from their anchoring connections at the bottom.
Although all kinds of hunting are prohibited on the surface of the area where the Side Underwater Museum is located, nets are thrown by those who do not obey the ban also covered the statues. Anchors have thrown to fix the boat and fishing also broke some of the statues and revealed the iron skeleton inside.
Statues were broken
Şahin Gerçek, who has a diving school in Side, stated that both the appearance is ugly and the anchors will harm the holidaymakers who dive and said, “Both professionals and amateurs can dive in this area. Our biggest wound is the neglect of this museum. No one has been interested since 2015. The ghostly nets that were thrown overturned the statues. We saw and identified them. Some sculptures are broken. It poses a danger. The iron of the broken statues came out. Divers can be injured by these anchors when visibility is poor. Divers are also disappointed when they see this view.”
Faulty Anchoring
Cüneyt Koşu, the Antalya Branch Manager of the Chamber of Shipping, said that the museum hosts many tourists. Stating that this project was implemented for the development of Side and to draw attention to underwater, Koşu said that they set off from an underwater museum in Mexico. Indicating that the Side Underwater Museum seems derelict, but as a chamber of shipping, they always allocate a budget to the museum, Koşu said:
“We just replaced the broken buoys. We allocate whatever is required according to annual needs. Sculptures are expected to be damaged over time. It’s inevitable. However, this area, which has been declared as a forbidden area, needs to be protected very well by the local people. I’ve seen it when I dive too. The sculptures were damaged due to faulty anchoring and fishing with nets. We saw that it was broken and the statues were covered with nets.”
Cut off from their connections
The latest state of the damaged sculptures was recorded by underwater cameras. While most of the statues were covered with algae and were nests for sea creatures, it was noteworthy that some of the statues were cut off from their connections at the base and lay on their side.
In the sculpture groups depicting the War of Independence, it was seen that the rifles of the soldiers were broken, and some of them fell to the seabed by breaking off from the connection points.