One of the most recognizable cultural expressions in the world are the Moáis of Easter Island . Surely if they show you the photo of one of them, do not hesitate to say what that sculpture is, just as you do not bacilitate before the Eiffel Tower wave Statue of Liberty . The Moáis are characteristic elements of Easter Island or Rapa Nui. On the island there are more than 900 Moáis, but the legend explains that at the bottom of the sea there is one of them. Join us to know the submerged Moai of Easter Island. Really exist?
If you usually talk about the heads of Easter Island , is because the majority of Moáis were shot down during tribal wars or were buried to the shoulders for various reasons. The body of many of them was discovered during the 20th century. Most of the heads are at the base of the Rano Raraku volcano.
The submerged Moai of Easter Island
The Moáis, apparently, are representations of the deceased ancestors of the ancient inhabitants of the island of Polynesian origin. They were carved between the ninth and fifteenth centuries so that these images of the ancestors projected their beneficial powers or "mana" on their descendants.
Nowadays there is talk not of a Moi submerged , but of two. One corresponds to that of the legend emerged in the mid-twentieth century and the other responds to a fictitious fact: a Chilean television series. The alleged existence of the first Moi submerged It is based on a historical fact that occurred in the year 1957. This story was investigated by a specialist diver of French origin named Michel García Baral and corroborated by the older locals. Apparently in 1957 a freighter named "Pinto" was commissioned to collect a Moai on the island and move it to the mainland. However, the day the ship left was bad weather and the sea was very rough. The logbook of the ship related that they tried to hold the sculpture with a cable but it broke and the Moi fell into the sea to a depth of more than 80 meters. Although it has been searched on countless occasions, the sculpture was never found. Experts believe that this is due to the composition of the seabed and the currents in that place that may have completely covered the Moi in a short time. There are many people who dive in the area trying to find this Moi submerged . In 2002 an underwater robot did an exhaustive exploration work with depth monitoring but no trace of the stone giant was found.
The second Moi submerged It really exists, but it is not an original sculpture. Television of Chile it issued in 1998 for the first time and then in 2002, 2005 and 2009 a series of fiction called Ileana. The teleseries took place on Easter Island and one of the protagonists arrived on the island in search of Moi submerged of the original legend. Hence, the question of this element lost in the depth of the sea became fashionable again. In order to take advantage of the divers' interest and the pull of the series, a fake moai made with cement measuring around four meters was made and installed at a depth of 40 meters. It is easily accessible for athletes since it is just over 300 meters from the north coast of Easter Island. The fake Moi submerged It is the work of the artisans Benedict Tuki and Keno Huke and although its color is grayish, being at the bottom of the sea seems the same as outside.
What they have found themselves submerged in the sea, are the eyes of some Moáis. Most of these giants currently sport a cavity in the place of the eyes. During the restoration of the ceremonial altar Nau-Nau (ahu Nau-Nau) in the beach of Anakena in 1978, a surprising fact was discovered: the moáis had eyes formed with plates of coral. Possibly in the tribal wars in which the moáis were overthrown, their eyes were also taken away; in many cases these were destroyed or buried and, interestingly, some of them went to the sea where they were found, as we have said, in the restoration of 1978.
This is the real story of Moi submerged in Easter Island . The one of the original legend has never been found and the one you can see sunk 300 meters from the coast is a reproduction inspired by a telenovela. Despite this, many people in their dive raids in the area continue to look for that mythical Moi submerged Do you think that it will ever be found? If you want to know more about these enigmatic sculptures, we invite you to read the post: The mystery of the Moai on Easter Island .