Artificial wrecks - so what?

[isurus]

All this talk about the O and earlier the Sg have got me thinking - Does everyone get the same buzz diving a deliberately scuttled reef as a wreck with real history to tis sinking? Is anyhting lost because of the sanitization of the wrecks or the lack of a backstory?

I've dived a few wrecks with some heavy history but only a couple of artificial reefs and I found them a bit bland but as I'm not a real wreck freak I put that down to the time gap in terms of the historic wrecks having attracted more life by being down there longer.

any thoughts?

 

[DennisS]

I find them boring but they do serve a pupose. They decrease the traffic on the reefs. Swimming around a cleaned up, decommisioned ship/car/tank/plane just doesn't have much of an appeal for me.

 

[lamont]

They're good for beginning wreck penetration divers.

 

[Cacia]

For me, a historical wreck is "all that" where an artificial reef wreck is a nice substitute.
Diving a wreck where hundreds of people perished in an epic storm is humbling.
Here, our wrecks are given a bit of history by the lore we pass around pertaining to the ship before it was sunk---The Sea Tiger for example was used to smuggle Chinese imigrants into the country. Our YO257 was sunk as an artificial reef just about ten years ago and it is covered with the most beautiful snowflake coral and teeming with fish.
Lately, the lighting created by sunbeams passing through hatches lures me in.

 

[The Kraken]

I love wrecks !!!

But the mystery, as it may be, with those wrecks that settled to the bottom without intent of man, with perhaps some insidious exceptions, seem to add a lot more excitement to the dive, not to mention potential hazards.

But as I get older, having been a pilot in the Sunny Southeastern War Games, such vessels as the "O" have a certain appeal to me, inspite of their cleaned up states.

I won't launch into the visual images diving on the "O" would conjure up for me.

One thing is for sure, it's a heck of a lot more interesting than a barren patch of grey ocean sand.

I'm just sorry that my DPV isn't rated to the depth that would allow me to make a carrier take off and landing.

Hey, ya think that could be the next PADI specialty cert? Carrier qualified divers !!!

Sorry, Uncle Ricky . . .

the K

 

[ReefHound]

They all have a back story in their own way. I like to research and read about a ship before I dive it. A real historic wreck may be a bit more interesting, but you can't always dive them.

 

[ArcticDiver]

There are several aspects to diving a wreck, regardless of how it got to be that way. One is the history involved. For people who are history buffs being able to visualize the past and the people involved brings its' own satisfaction.

Others like to see what is hiding in the wreck. Whether it be animal or vegetable; wrecks, once they have been down for awhile, contain all sorts of creatures. Entering a passageway and unexepectedly coming nose to nose with a giant grouper brings its' own kind of thrill. Or, entering a compartment to see it is already occupied by a turtle or shark is fun.

For some it is the adventure of "going where no one, or at least very few, has gone before" and returning as healthy as when the adventure started.

That is the beauty of wreck diving. There is something for everyone. Plus, we help out the other creatures around us.

Wonderful!

 

[Damselfish]

I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, but I pretty much consider all wrecks (deliberate or otherwise) to be litter. Yeah, I know they provide habitat, and they're more interesting than nothing, but I much prefer a real reef.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, but I pretty much consider all wrecks (deliberate or otherwise) to be litter. Yeah, I know they provide habitat, and they're more interesting than nothing, but I much prefer a real reef.

Not at all. The beauty of our hobby is that there is something for nearly everyone. It is only those who are so narrow-minded as to put down others' choices who should be criticized.

 

[The Kraken]

Damselfish,

Please don't misconstrue my meaning in what I'm about to say, but even the hulks of ships, like our fragile bodies, will eventually return from whence they came.

We even litter our landscapes, which could be used to produce food and crops, with the elemental remains of people, encased in steel and concrete. Which is the greater of the two evils?

. . . the rivers will, once again, flow freely to the sea.

the K