bonehunter
Registered
FLRiverDiver, not everything I find ends up in a museum 8^), I am a collector and enjoy my collection. I do however follow the rules set by the state. Those rules require that I report what I find for examination by the state if they choose. I am glad to do this as I would not have known what some of the items I have found were, if they were not identified by a paleontologist. If I find something significant, it is much more appealing to me to have it placed in a museum or university for display or study than to have it mis identified sitting on my shelf. When I first started diving, it was legal to collect artifacts in Florida rivers, that changed a year after I began diving. I heard from a source in a local museum that the powers to be in Florida were mad because some of the divers did not turn in their reports. Instead of realizing that there are always some that do not follow the rules, they chose to ban collecting for everyone. The majority of artifacts collected in rivers have been displaced from their origin and are of no value to archaeologists. They have no real reason to ban the collecting except that they are mad, and like little children, they lash out against the whole dive community instead of keeping better watch on the ones breaking the rules. I'm sure that many fine artifacts will be lost forever because of this law...