Deep Sea Detectives

[ScubaThor]

I haven't heard that reputation, but then I have to admit, I don't know that much about them.

All I know, is on the dives we did, they were adamant about not touching anything. Several times they mentioned they would not bring anything to the surface or disturb anything. They were extremely respectful of wartime grave status of the wrecks.

I think they used to pull a ton of artifacts from the Andrea Doria and other wrecks...but those also aren't war grave sites, so I guess it's fair game. Read "Shadow Divers" and you'll know their whole life story.

 

[ScubaThor]

(ScubaThor, that's a sweet dive knife your avatar has, dude... )

Thanks. Kinda tough diving with that helmet though....reg keeps getting tangled in the horns.

 

[Sideband]

Very cool. They are going to be here this weekend (I think it's this week) and a DM friend of mine from my LDS is guiding them on a dive to the car ferry Milwaukee.

Joe

 

[StSomewhere]

Your two cents is extremely illegal. Government ships are protected under federal regulations maintaining that anything on the ships are still property of the Government. This applies to foreign and domestic vessels. If you are caught with federal artifacts, well, you know that saying "make a federal case out of it..." Its not just a saying.

I didn't advocate doing anything illegal, I said there isn't much point in their policy. If there is something of value to the CG then by all means go and get it. Otherwise, you are preserving a wreck that is literally decaying every minute of every day.

 

[DivePartner1]

For a sense of how the Coast Guard and Justice Department view salvaging government shipwrecks, see the prior thread on the "Nantucket Lightship."

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=90348

It's fair to say that the government does not feel obligated to retrieve wrecks to enforce its rights.

 

[StSomewhere]

I KNOW how the government feels about their wrecks, I just think its not a terribly well thought out position. YMMV.

You guys might be reading more into this that what I'm saying (i.e. read what I actually said, not just what you thought I said or what argument you currently have going on in your own heads).

 

[cornfed]

I KNOW how the government feels about their wrecks, I just think its not a terribly well thought out position.

There are some old tombstones near my house. Not sure the actual date but it's close to the civil war. They're all over grown with weeds, have started to crumble and one was cracked after a storm dropped a tree limb on them. Since it's only a matter of time before they're destroyed I guess I should dig them up to preserve them, right?

 

[mogwai]

Hmm why destroy anything in the water? Leave it intact then the next person can have the experience on it the same as you just did. If it's falling to bits or half wrecked anyway so what. It's a live marine environment that has no need to be pulled to pieces for portholes or whatever other bit of tat you might want to proclaim you are diver.

If the thing is down there leave it there, then we can all get a chance to have a look. Of course any gold bars are fair game

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

I KNOW how the government feels about their wrecks, I just think its not a terribly well thought out position. YMMV.

You guys might be reading more into this that what I'm saying (i.e. read what I actually said, not just what you thought I said or what argument you currently have going on in your own heads).

I understand what you are saying, it's the policy you disagree with, but don't you think it would be nice for other divers to be able to see the wrecks and artifacts? If someone has the intention of recovering something and bringing it to a museum, a lot of times that can be arranged with the permitting process. My experience has been different though. People have valuable artifacts rusting in their garages wasting away where nobody can see them. It is merely a trophy to them. Not to mention, I know of people who brought LIVE munitions up as their trophy. There are obvious dangers to that.

I can see the hypocracies though. If a house burned down and people died in the fire, would it be wrong to go through the ashes to find their jewlery? I would say so if you are just a sport looter so to say. Like Cornfed said, no one would want to salvage a tomb stone. War graves are essentially that.

I certainly don't want to put anyone on the defensive. Sometimes these posts are taken the wrong way. I don't mind stirring the pot, as long as we can have a civilized conversation about it. so far, so good, more or less.

 

[lamont]

i'm on the "take only pictures (okay, and any actual gold bullion you happen to find), leave only bubbles" side of the fence.