Wreck Rights and Wrongs!

[njdiver1]

With sand shifting, the Army Corp of Engineers dumping & dredging, salvors recovering, salt water corroding and worms boring it's a wonder there's anything left to recover!

What is "historic" leave to the "archeologists", what's garbage recover and dispose of properly, what's left is either recoverable under Admiralty Law (unless the UNESCO treaty passes) or up for grabs to anyone willing to spend the time & effort to recover. If you want to dive on a wreck and all you have is sand, try placing an artifical reef with a cleaned surplus from someone's navy ect.

 

[CGoheen]

It appears that most of the comments on this thread are from young, single divers. As an old married diver, I know that I leave the Historical Artifacts where they lie. If I bring home one more "artifact" from a hunt, dive, or night out, well........

To take UKPhil's concept a little farther, and to copy from my hiking/camping classes:

Take only pictures,
Leave only foot prints(bubbles),
Waste only time.

 

[Lost Yooper]

Just leave MY wrecks alone, eh! :nono:

Mike

 

[budgy]

Well, when it comes to bits of brass I dont really see the point of acting the vandal and tearing out portholes and ripping off valves, I have got plenty of junk in my garage. Crud encrusted cannons can stay on the bottom. However Tobermory and Porten Cross galleons stuffed to the gunnels with mythical gold doubloons and pieces of eight are a different story, and if I ever find an U boat, I have always wanted a submarine. There is a wreck near me and according to the manifest, buried somewhere deep in the hold, under a mountain of silt, are cases of houshold goods. If I ever figure out how to get in there, any china plate, or objects of silver and glass and other articles of value, are likely to go in my goody bag.

 

[Ari]

For the other divers to enjoy.

In case there is a real historic value to it, I would recommend to leave it for professionals to handle.

Ari

 

[flash]

I always believe in leaving things the way you found them.

 

[solodiver]

They should remain untouched So that every diver can have the oppertunity to see what the wreck looks like first hand rather then hear stories of what she ues to look like...

 

[njdiver1]

Your Government signed on with the UNESCO treaty. You might want to look into it. Some provisions will prevent you and your fellow Canadians from even diving on some of your wrecks.

Originally posted by solodiver
Re: LEAVE THEM ALONE
They should remain untouched So that every diver can have the oppertunity to see what the wreck looks like first hand rather then hear stories of what she ues to look like...

 

[Rooster1]

I believe in leaving the wreck may it be a navy ship, a lake freighter or a beautiful schooner as it is for all future divers to see.
However a treasure chest full for gold coins that if missing would not change the look of the wreck, oh boy oh boy, I might have to consider some options there. The wreck looks the same, but now I live a whole lot different.!???!@#$% DECISIONS DECISIONS!

 

[Kaffphine]

Being warm water, the wrecks I started diving on where heavily dived (read: looted). Not including broken 'reef comber' cards and other arifacts OF divers... I only had the prilivage of seeing arficts from one wreck. And that was because the shop I went with does that wreck on a regualar basis and HIDES the few arifacts they're found in a specfic place. There's a few shops/boats that work together, know about the arifacts, shows them to their divers, and keep them on the wreck. After that dive, I was on a wreck I dive all the time and found a bottle! This really really made my day, it was old--old. I took it around and let everyone see it... and burried it on the wreck. We we came up a few people wanted to see it again and couldn't belive I left it there. On trips out there I loved showing it to tourist. It's in a place that it'll eventually be found, but at least I know it'll stay on the wreck for a little while.

Unless if it's to recover a recent personal loss or the arifact/wreck of hisotrical signifance that is about to be permetally lost ... LEAVE STUFF THERE!! Please. For something you're going to take and talk about for ...maybe a week and then set on a shelf or store it away you're ruining everyone else diving forever. If you like it enought to bring it up, don't you think others would like to 'discover' it too? And if you absolutly must bring something up to show off. Make sure it's not going to desinagrade when you bring it up AND have a commited date for when you'll return it to the same spot you found it, the sooner the better. Or better yet leave it there to begin with.


::dismounts from soap box:::