NE Wreckdiving and Artifact Obsession

[MSilvia]

Maybe they'll be scuttled or exploded, maybe they'll be scrapped, and maybe they'll be wrecked despite modern technology like anti-hurricane radar. One thing's for sure though... unless they get hauled out of the water and dismantled, they'll probably go down sooner or later. Nothing lasts forever, and modern ships eventually become outdated relics. They don't just drift of to boat heaven when they've worn out.

I wouldn't worry about running out of wrecks to dive on.

Dectek once bubbled...
My theory is....if you keep taking parts off the wreck, then soon there will be nothing to visit. With advanced in radar and sonar, the number of ships that go down has been greatly reduced.

 

[GearHead]

large_diver once bubbled...
some people are idiots....

I was on a charter boat last fall and we were discussing the U-853 off of RI. I mentioned in a critical fashion to the captain that I had heard stories of people bringing up human bones from the wreck. His reply was that "his buddy" has a skull from the wreck in his living room. I just shook my head in disbelief....and people wonder why there is talk of closing war garve sites to divers....

I'm not a believer in Paranormal stuff, but that's one guy who deserves to wake up in the middle of the night with a big scary ghost hovering over his bed. :ghost: :scared:

Besides, who would want a human skull in their living room anyway?

 

[trheeltek]

MSilvia once bubbled...
Maybe they'll be scuttled or exploded, maybe they'll be scrapped, and maybe they'll be wrecked despite modern technology like anti-hurricane radar. One thing's for sure though... unless they get hauled out of the water and dismantled, they'll probably go down sooner or later. Nothing lasts forever, and modern ships eventually become outdated relics. They don't just drift of to boat heaven when they've worn out.

Unfortunately, they usually clean those wrecks pretty good before they sink them as artificial reefs etc, so few goodies to be had. Plus, for me it's just not as interesting to dive if it was put there on purpose.

 

[JamesK]

Someone who is stupid enough to take live ordinance from a ship, or take human remains from a ship is someone who I would never dive with. I would simply pull out good ole rule number 1. I would chock it up to this, the guy with the ordinance is IMP very unsafe to be around, much less diving with. The guy who is bringing up human remains is going to be unsafe once he has a pissed off ghost or two floating around him. (yes I do believe in ghosts) Would these same people go walking through a minefeild to find treasure? Would they go to a grave yard and dig up graves to find treasure? My guess is porbably not. However, they are essentially doing the same thing.

 

[O-ring]

The guy who is bringing up human remains is going to be unsafe once he has a pissed off ghost or two floating around him. (yes I do believe in ghosts)

Have these ghosts been known to turn off people's gas? Actually, the ordinance guy already looked like ghosts had sabotaged his gear to try to kill him...he was carrying a sword and his gear bag looked more like my toolbox at home than a diver's gear bag.

 

[MikeFerrara]

War grave or accident sceen? Grave robbing or archiology? The field museum in Chicago has a x000 year old lady in a glass case for people to look at. Did they commit a sin? a crime?

Should artifacts be left to be eaten by salt water or buried by a storm or should they be collected and preserved?

When it's a matter of law the choice is easy. When it's not I'm not so sure it's black and white.

Personaly I have no desire to have human remains in my living room and I haven't had the desire to loot the wrecks I have been on. Of course, I mostly dive fresh water wrecks where things will last a long time and I like the stuff where it is. I don't even like it when they take all the good stuff and put it in a museum. I want it on the wreck. I have, however, seen some recovered artifacts that would look real nice in my living room.

 

[JamesK]

Mike, honestly I do not like the digging up of graves and mummies just so we can ooh and aah over them. I personally think they should be left alone, just as I feel that a war grave or accident at sea should be left alone. Taking stuff like portholes and china is no big deal to me. Have at it, but use common sense. However, I am totally against taking personal belongings, and remains. It is morally wrong IMO.

The whole ordinance things is just pure stupidity.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I, of course, was pointing out questions not give answers. I would rather leave stuff on the wreck but that's because I am a diver and it makes my dives more interesting. Others want to bring it up so the don't have to go down there. Some just want bragging rights.

 

[JDostal]

Dectek once bubbled...
My theory is....if you keep taking parts off the wreck, then soon there will be nothing to visit. With advanced in radar and sonar, the number of ships that go down has been greatly reduced.
What will we dive on if all the wrecks end up in the living rooms or front yards of previous divers.
LEAVE SOMETHING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

This is my opinion as well - this thread has cleared up several of my questions that I just asked in another thread in this forum (The Last Dive thread) after reading about the artifact obsession divers have on the Doria....keep the good stuff coming, it's interesting.

 

[WreckWriter]

Protect everything that has resulted in people dying. Can you imagine the state of the nation's highways? Memorial car wrecks every couple hundred feet around here.

Protect every war grave? That takes care of most of the southern U.S. as much of it was a battleground in the Civil War. I guess most of Europe will have to be protected too.

Get better training so you can dive the less travelled wrecks? Nah, too much trouble....

Tom