Another weird 'wreck' question

[Scubameister]

Ok. Here's a weird one for you...

Some govts ban or condemn any salvaging or pilfering of wrecks in their areas. That is understandable to a point...but what about actually leaving something behind on the wreck?

A dive buddy of mine wants to secure a small plastic plaque on one of the wrecks that he will visit while doing the Blackbeard's trip. Since I would be doing the same trip a few weeks later, he wanted to see if I could find it ... something like an underwater treasure hunt.

Does anyone know if this is illegal? I have tried to look for the maritime laws for the Bahamas on the Net but I dont think it exists.

...like I said, a weird question...

 

[DivingGal]

Originally posted by Scubameister
Some govts ban or condemn any salvaging or pilfering of wrecks in their areas.

That's very true here in Ontario (and I give a big thumbs up on it -- but that's not the point here)

A dive buddy of mine wants to secure a small plastic plaque on one of the wrecks that he will visit while doing the Blackbeard's trip. Since I would be doing the same trip a few weeks later, he wanted to see if I could find it ... something like an underwater treasure hunt. Does anyone know if this is illegal?

Not wierd -- and in fact, I applaud you for asking instead of doing it. Here's my 0.02 -- IF you/your friend attaches anything that will not damage the wreck in any manner, there probably is no problem. No nailing or other intrusion into the wreck structure in other words. This applies to anything "old" or with historical significance -- it may not apply to a wreck purposely sunk for us divers.

Why not pose the question to Blackbeard's, or you might look for archeological type laws in the Bahamas. I have a friend in the business (he's the head U/W Archeologist for Ontario, I'll pass the question by him, and let you know.

 

[MSilvia]

I'm inclined to suspect it would be okay so long as it doesn't damage the wreck, as DivingGirl said. Maybe if he used a plastic zip tie or something like that.

On the other hand, if you found and removed it, the letter of the law might consider you to be "removing something from the wreck". I concur that it would be a good idea to look into it first.