THUNDER BAY — A new attraction is coming to what the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority believes is the only one of Ontario's 36 watershed management agencies with a scuba dive park.
The park, located at the Silver Harbour Conservation Area on Lake Superior in Shuniah, was established a couple of years ago.
In the coming weeks, five full-size concrete mermaid sculptures will be floated from shore on inflated lift bags, then carefully dropped into the water at different spots, creating what the LRCA describes as a "captivating" feature for divers to explore at various depths.
The sculptures are being donated by local metal artist Luc Despres.
"I was going to build a fountain and put them in, but now we're moving, so I won't have a place for them," he said in an interview this week. "They've been done for a bit, but we've now finally found a proper home for them."
LRCA spokesperson Ryan Mackett said placing the sculptures in the water serves a dual purpose.
"That's a common thing with scuba dive parks around the world – giving divers points of location under the water, and little amenities or 'Easter eggs' to find as they're down there. It also actually acts as fish habitat."
Wally Peterson of Thunder Country Diving is one of the volunteers who will be assisting in the operation.
He said the Silver Harbour Conservation Area already serves as a base for divers to explore some sunken cabin cruisers and lifeboats in the vicinity, but he hopes the new attraction will promote the site even more, including to divers from other parts of Canada.
"Somebody would be able to come to Thunder Bay and say 'I want to go for a dive in Lake Superior to take it off my bucket list.' So they could come to the scuba park, go for a nice easy shore-dive, and see some stuff. There's a ship, a natural wreck not far on St. Mary's Island. There's also a little tugboat wrecked out there."
The LRCA is holding a public event and a chance to meet Despres and see the sculptures before they're installed underwater.
It's scheduled for June 7 at Silver Harbour from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m.
