Keeping dive sites a secret

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swimmer_spe

Contributor
Messages
637
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99
Location
Sudbury, Ontario
# of dives
50 - 99
It is no secret that dives keep dive sites a secret.

Some say that they do it so the site doesn't get pillaged. I get that. However, many of these sites are in locations that a simple anchor will do more damage than someone trying to take home some memento.

Some say that it is because of all the research they put in finding it. So, maybe an agreement of after a certain length of time, it is released.

Some say it is due to the dangers of the dive location. I say, you can't stop stupid, but you can mitigate it by listing depth, as well as other dangers.

Just think if you could go to a website that had all diving locations world wide that had the depths, dangers and what is there.

I know, I know, some people just don't want to share.
 
Well most sites were found by a lot hard work and money for fuel. I don't feel the least bit guilty not sharing my numbers so they can be over-fished and polluted.

Nevertheless, there's more public numbers, wrecks and artificial reefs available on the internet than anyone could possibly dive in a lifetime.

Point: This is just my county here in Florida. I've yet to dive all of them. Pinellas County, Florida - Artificial Reef
 
I worry about dynamite use to catch fish in certain locations or taking antiquities illegally and selling them overseas. I also worry about excessive over spearfishing and illegal fishing.

What you wish for can only be done in areas and in countries that have solid rule of the law and real enforcement but not where I am unfortunately. It is a very nice dream however, just a dream for me.
 
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Well most sites were found by a lot hard work and money for fuel. I don't feel the least bit guilty not sharing my numbers so they can be over-fished and polluted.

Nevertheless, there's more public numbers, wrecks and artificial reefs available on the internet than anyone could possibly dive in a lifetime.

Point: This is just my county here in Florida. I've yet to dive all of them. Pinellas County, Florida - Artificial Reef

I worry about dynamite use to catch fish in certain locations or taking antiquities illegally and selling them overseas. I also worry about excessive over spearfishing and illegal fishing.

What you wish for can only be done in areas and in counties have solid rule of the law and real enforcement but not where I am unfortunately. It is a very nice dream however, just a dream for me.

You both bring up great points.

Here in Ontario Canada, the laws are much different than Nova Scotia wrt taking something from a wreck.

Is it time to have an international law of the seas that protect what is in the waters?
 
I have noticed that the divers who keep sites secret so they won't get pillaged are the very ones doing the pillaging. Too often I dive with brass collectors who pull portholes, instruments and anything green they can find and tell me to keep the site a secret until they have removed as much as they can.
I lost a friend over my sharing the coordinates of the UB88, a WWI German submarine off Los Angeles Harbor. I heard all the talk about divers being killed, others stripping the wreck, fishermen taking it over, etc. Six years later none of that has happened. I enjoy promoting local diving. I would love to see anyone who wants to enjoy a site getting the same enjoyment I do. It's not my ocean.
 
we have had this issue where i live on the great lakes for years. there are always two sides to every story of course. some wish that the dive community was one big happy family and that we would share the wealth of information gathered by those before us for the betterment of the sport. but there will always be those who either for business reasons (which some can be argued are legitimate) or because of pure ego which i think is the majority of the time.
the dive community can be like being back in high school. if you are not part of the cool kids club then you will always be left out.
there are groups like SOS that try to post info on wreck diving sites for example for all to be able to enjoy. we have a local chapter that is working to mark the more common wreck sites and share the info for everyone to enjoy. i say.....good for them.
but there is the other side that makes me sick to be honest. and that is the greedy and self righteous attitude that some divers have. they believe that they can do whatever they want, take whatever they feel like, and damn anyone who tries to stop them. i have met very experience and well respected dive instructors who had no problem telling me all about there schemes and plots to rape what does not belong to them.
it is a sad situation when we need to really considered whether or not to make a site known publicly for fear it will be destroyed by those who feel they are some how entitled to something they have no right to take.
 
Well, great lake wrecks tend to stay together fairly well for a100+ years.. And Northeast wrecks fall apart in 50 -75 years. So it's what wrecks your talking about.. And I'm a Brass-a-holic..

Jim
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I share as many sites as i can.

We have a problem with a patchwork of local jurisdictions that have regulations prohibiting swimming and/or diving. Much of this is due to misplaced concerns about safety and a management strategy of confining swimming to beach areas where it will not interfere with fishing and other uses. Some of these rules are unevenly enforced, Some of them are preempted by the state and therefore, probably, invalid. But I do not believe I can publicly promote dive sites that are under a legal cloud.

I spend a lot of time poring over charts, do a lot of exploring, and go on a lot of crap dives in order to find good sites.
 
I share as many sites as i can.

We have a problem with a patchwork of local jurisdictions that have regulations prohibiting swimming and/or diving. Much of this is due to misplaced concerns about safety and a management strategy of confining swimming to beach areas where it will not interfere with fishing and other uses. Some of these rules are unevenly enforced, Some of them are preempted by the state and therefore, probably, invalid. But I do not believe I can publicly promote dive sites that are under a legal cloud.

I spend a lot of time poring over charts, do a lot of exploring, and go on a lot of crap dives in order to find good sites.

I most certainly would not suggest telling us about illegal dive sites. Then whomever enforces the law will watch it more due to the increased use.

Thank you for sharing the legal ones.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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