Wreck Detectives on the Discovery Channel

[Suunto Old]

Has anyone else seen this touring circus?

These "professionals" are doing a series of documentaries about England's shipwrecks. The deal is, that someone who happens to know the location of an unknown wreck phones in, and these goons arrive to try to figure out what kind of ship the wreck has been, who owned it, etc. etc.

Every time the opening line on this serie has been "...And we have only one week to figure out the mysteries of this ship." Rrriiight, so, you're trying to accomplish something in one week that professional sea archeologists haven't been able to do in years? Sounds promising. To my knowledge, no-one in the Wreck Detectives dive team has anykind of education in sea archeology or anything close to that. Worst thing is, that every time they dive, they always stress how dangerous the dive is, how mad the currents are and how horrible the 1ft visibility is. Now this is bad PR for diving itself, as the dives are not technical dives of any kind.

It seems funny to me that they really make an issue out of the shortness of NDL and always complain how they have so little time to do anything. Get a grip, if you can't do the investigation properly in given time, why don't you let someone who has the skills and capabilities to do so? These wannabe-Pro's get down, literally crawl around the wreck, babble insanities to their FFM coms, raise silt and do nothing more than damage the wreck. Why oh why cant they do their background research BEFORE their first dive so that they would know what to look for, rather than to just mess around the wreck.

All in all I think that this show give a very bad picture about sea archeology and diving in general. If you haven't seen this comedy, I definitely suggest you to avoid it.
Has anyone had similiar experiences with other TV-programs?

 

[fins wake]

Has anyone else seen this touring circus?

Yup. It's pure "entertainment". There are plenty of similar programs around, many subject to the same fair criticism you've expressed.

There was a fairly funny episode some while back where the divers got stressed out in "bad viz" (which was better than the Baltic Sea average) in some 5-6 MSW and made a big song-and-dance about the dangers, then aborted. Finally their guide (a local diver) surfaced and seemed very bemused when told about the "dangerous conditions". 'It's pretty good viz, really', he mumbled.

A classic. :toilet_cl :LIFSAVR:

 

[Don Burke]

Has anyone else seen this touring circus?

These "professionals" are doing a series of documentaries about England's shipwrecks. The deal is, that someone who happens to know the location of an unknown wreck phones in, and these goons arrive to try to figure out what kind of ship the wreck has been, who owned it, etc. etc.

Apparently they are running two versions. The US one is about the same. They dove on a B-29 in a lake here to try to figure out what some secret project was about. They then sent an ROV in.

Finally, they tracked down one of the guys who worked on the project and he told them the whole story. That wasn't as silly as the Andrea Doria episode, but it was pretty close.

 

[Gary D.]

Are you guys talking about "Deep Sea Detectives" here in the U.S.

They make the Red Green show look real. I have noticed the "POOR" vis issues and your right. They had better vis than a lot of our play dives.

Remember Arti Johnson on "Laugh In"? I'd like to see them ride out on trikes and fall over.

The Dory show was a joke. They made it look like her falling appart was something new. How would anyone in their right mind think they could see the collission damage when it is under her.

Did you see the home made rebreather they tried to use on the sub and one of them freaked out?

Goes right along with Finding Nemo. Entertainment.

Does anyone know if a 2 tank dive on the Titanic is in the works?

Gary D.

 

[CRDiver]

It's not "Deep Sea Detectives." Here's the shows homepage:

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/W/wreck_detectives/

 

[Gary D.]

It's not "Deep Sea Detectives." Here's the shows homepage:

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/W/wreck_detectives/\

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Thanks.

I missed one on the test.

Looks like Jeromy is a read "Seal" :cheeky:

Do you have any idea of show times etc. on this side of the pond?

Thanks again, Gary D.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

One of the guys on "DEeep Sea Detectives" died recently in a diving - related accident. That's why that show always now closes with a panel of "In memory of . . "

http://www.divernet.com/news/stories/deathtv101203.shtml

 

[Rick Inman]

When I was a kid, we never missed Jacques Cousteau on Sunday nights at 8pm. A full hour of earth-bound explorers, delving into the depths of the mysterious sea. The feeling of wonder made me yearn to be underwater.
For all it's imperfections, I miss that kind of show, the way it made me feel.
Today, I'll watch anything even close, even John Chatterton slopping around in 8 feet of Mississippi mud. Even the bad reruns of PADI's 30 minute tropical diving commercials. Even Nova's Glacier divers, who say, "I dink my lips are flow-zen!"
But I really miss the Cousteau crew riding turtles in the Galapagos (cue the music: John Denver signing, Fly Calypso).

 

[Gary D.]

When I was a kid, we never missed Jacques Cousteau on Sunday nights at 8pm. A full hour of earth-bound explorers, delving into the depths of the mysterious sea. The feeling of wonder made me yearn to be underwater.
For all it's imperfections, I miss that kind of show, the way it made me feel.
Today, I'll watch anything even close, even John Chatterton slopping around in 8 feet of Mississippi mud. Even the bad reruns of PADI's 30 minute tropical diving commercials. Even Nova's Glacier divers, who say, "I dink my lips are flow-zen!"
But I really miss the Cousteau crew riding turtles in the Galapagos (cue the music: John Denver signing, Fly Calypso).

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I'm with you Rick. I watch it all. Amazed by some and laugh at others. Then you see one where it' an "I've been there and done that".

I just have to get a laugh at what some of these guys pull that the non-diving public would never have a clue was not quite up to par.

Just look at some of these as Cool UW Pics and ot much more. ;^)

Gay D.

You about ready to meet for dinner or something?

 

[roakey]

All in all I think that this show give a very bad picture about...diving in general. If you haven't seen this comedy, I definitely suggest you to avoid it.
Has anyone had similiar experiences with other TV-programs?

After 30 years of diving I have yet to get into an underwater knife fight, despite Mike Nelson having one weekly!

Roak