The Role of Art in Communicating Science
Since as early as 1912, scientists have been warning the world about the impacts of global warming. Yet, despite decades of research and reporting, these scientific warnings have often failed to spark broad societal change. While science delivers essential facts, art offers something equally powerful: the ability to forge emotional connections and translate complex ideas into accessible, engaging experiences for a wider audience.
Research shows that emotional engagement and storytelling are often more effective at motivating change than information alone. In this context, artists play a vital role by interpreting scientific data through relatable ways through visual, auditory, and immersive forms. Artistic expression can transcend language barriers, cultural differences, and political divides, reaching people who might not otherwise connect with scientific material.
The following case studies focus on how Jason deCaires Taylor’s artistic creations serve as a compelling medium for communicating the urgent need for coral reef conservation. Coral reefs have existed for over 500 million years, but they now face existential threats from climate change, overfishing, and pollution. Scientists warn that we may lose 90% of the world’s natural coral reefs if we fail to take decisive action.
Taylor’s art invites viewers to experience these environmental challenges firsthand. By situating sculptures within the very ecosystems they seek to protect, his work fosters deeper understanding and emotional resonance. These powerful collaborations between art and science aim not only to inform, but to inspire—encouraging greater public engagement and timely action on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.
Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa (MUSAN)
In May 2022, The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research released a report in the Mediterranean Marine Science Journal outlining the new records of rare species discovered within the Mediterranean Sea. Underwater photographer Costas Constantinou from Nicosia, Cyprus, and Thodoros E. Kampouris from the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of the Aegean submitted evidence documenting the first recorded sighting of Scyllaea pelagica Linnaeus, 1758 (Nudibranchia, Scyllaeidae) in Cyprus. In August 2021, they observed and photographed seven individuals of Scyllaea pelagica at depths of 5 to 7 meters at the Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa (MUSAN), located at Pernera Beach, Cyprus. All specimens crawled over the recently installed stainless-steel underwater sculptures, displaying behaviour typical of the species.
Sponsoring Partnering Organisations: Municipality of Ayia Napa, Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, Ministry of Tourism.
The Coral Greenhouse
Coral gardening is a technique that actively restores coral reefs by helping them recover after degradation, damage, or destruction. The process of coral gardening mirrors the discipline of silviculture in terrestrial environments. On land, gardeners take cuttings or seeds from mature plants, raise seedlings in a nursery before planting young trees in the desired location. On coral reefs, marine scientists take ‘cuttings’ of mature coral colonies, place them on a nursery for a husbandry period before replanting them in a new location. Researchers from Reef Ecologic are working with the Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) to create a special blend of art and science at Jason deCaires Taylor’s Coral Greenhouse on John Brewer Reef. The Coral Greenhouse symbolises a land based greenhouse enabling the planting of coral to enhance the aesthetic appeal and biodiversity of this artistic installation. Researchers collect fragments from coral colonies on the surrounding nearby reefs and transplant them into the art installation. The science team collect data on survival, growth and natural recruitment as well as aesthetics and visitor enjoyments to measure the social and ecological effect of the sculptures. Researchers replicate depth and aspect to match target locations with the original coral habitats. This blend of art and science offers valuable insights into potential reef restoration techniques that may be applicable not only on the Great Barrier Reef but also in reef systems worldwide. These collaborative installations help communicate complicated messages regarding reef health and enable people to see these techniques and ask questions leading to discussions around why we may need these types of interventions at all. As our natural ecosystems face ever greater challenges these creative approaches to raise awareness are critical to help inspire people to implement the changes need to support the health of our planet.
Sponsoring Partnering Organisations: Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA)
Collaborating Partners: Reef Ecologic
Ocean Siren
Ocean Siren is a 4m-high illuminated sculpture modelled on Takoda Johnson, a young indigenous girl from the Wulgurukaba tribe. She is holding a traditional indigenous communication device, a Bayliss shell, and it is acting as a siren or warning signal that warm seas could be a risk to the Great Barrier Reef.
The sculpture celebrates the scientific and technological expertise of Townsville and the region. The live data feed provided by a 4G live internet connection to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), relays water temperature data from a weather station installed at Davies Reef. Ocean Siren houses a matrix of 202 multi-coloured LED lights that illuminate each day at sunset and gradually change colour from the centre of the figure to its extremities, similar in display to a heat sensing camera image. The sculpture is a visual representation of the current conditions out on the reef and can potentially warn of risks to coral reefs from warming seas.
Sponsoring Partnering Organisation: Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA)
Collaborating Partner: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
The Listener
Working with marine biologist Ms. Heather Spence of Ocean World of Sound, Michelle’s Earth Foundation, Colegio Ecab A.C., and Proyecto Domino, The Listener portrays a lone figure created entirely from casts of human ears molded during a workshop of local Cancun students aged 8-12. The sculpture, located at Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA) within the National Marine Park of Cancun, is fitted with a revolutionary NOAA-designed hydrophone, which is continually recording sounds from the reef environment and storing the data to an internal water resistant hard drive.
Although the marine environment is often referred to as the silent world, it is actually reverberating with a myriad of noises from crustaceans clicking, fish feeding, waves breaking to boats passing overhead. Sound also travels approximately four times faster in water than in air. This bioacoustic research method of non-invasive Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) will monitor some of complex sound activities taking place underwater and will advance our understanding of acoustic relationships while informing the science of conservation management. Click here for a sample recording from The Listener.
The form symbolises a passive relationship between humans and nature whilst aiming to engage local students in reef conservation and draw focus to the much-needed ability to listen.
Sponsoring Partnering Organisations: University of North Carolina-Greensboro, CONAMP.
Collaborating Partners: University of Hawaii, Universidad del Caribe, Proyecto Domino, Heather Spence.
Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA)
At the Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), Prof. Vivianne Solis-Weiss from the Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM, studies how flora and fauna have evolved on the sculptures created by Jason deCaires Taylor since their immersion in 2010.
Just a few months after the museum’s installation, researchers documented the presence of microscopic life. Purple encrusting algae began to prosper, followed by the introduction of at least 15 other colourful species. Observations identified Lobophora variegata and Dictyota bartayresii as the dominant species growing throughout MUSA.
The museum has attracted fauna similar to those found at the nearby Manchones coral reef. Populations of herbivores such as urchins, mollusks, and nudibranchs now live among the artworks, with polychaetes making up 45% of MUSA’s total fauna. The structural complexity, or environmental rugosity, created by the sculptures supports the settlement of this diverse marine life and offers the necessary conditions for them to complete their life cycles.
Art and science come together to create a nurturing environment for reef restoration. The sculptures slow marine currents, creating calmer conditions that help new recruits settle more easily. After two years, hard corals (hermatypic) and gorgonians began to grow successfully. In some areas, Amphimedon compressa, a dominant pink sponge known for its aggressive nature and ability to outcompete other species, began to take over algae growth.
Ocean Atlas
Since the installation of Ocean Atlas in 2014, the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) has grown the surrounding sculpture garden by integrating coral nurseries. One of the initiatives bringing art and science together is supporting coral propagation by inviting visitors to adopt a polyp, coral fragment, or an entire coral head. These adopted corals are later out-planted either within the Sir Nicholas Nuttall Coral Reef Sculpture Garden or on the nearby Andros Great Barrier Reef.
Sponsoring Partnering Organisations: Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF).
