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Originally Posted by reefraff
... I come from an area where a well-treated wreck essentially lasts forever and we are, perhaps, more sensitive to not trashing them than might be the case in some other areas. That doesn't mean that access to some wrecks isn't pretty tightly controlled (or prohibitedf) but it doesn't happen very often....
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I know in the fresh, cold waters of the Great Lakes and other fresh water bodies that some wreck sites will pretty much last forever. In the North Atlantic wrecks dissolve and are smashed by the elements rather quickly. Look at the Andrea Doria, the first time I went in the 80's it was down for 30 years or so and still looked like a luxury liner. Now she's dropping decks like a tree loses it's leaves. The china, crystal and other "goodies" divers are bringing up will ultimately be the only things saved from these wrecks. Most of the rest will be destroyed and lost forever. Even Dr. Ballard is now noting the rapid decay on the Titanic, noting the inevitable loss of many artifacts. At the same time he criticizes the French & Russian team from bringing a bit of the Titanic up for people to see and experience.
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Originally Posted by Brian1968
A fatal shipwreck is generally considered the final resting place of the individual(s) lost in it. A car wreck is not. A wartime wreck (ie war grave) is considered even more sacred. I believe that's the thinking behind the argument....
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If you consider how we have treated war graves since our founding you really can't support that statement. The battlefields of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 & the Civil War are mostly suburbs and industrial parks now-a-days. And as I stated in the first post, if the "war grave" is in a shipping channel or some other
inconvenient location, we dynamite it, wire drag it and other wise demolish it. The Gaspee was one of the first British ships sunk in the run-up to the Revolutionary War. Undoubtably the most historically important shipwreck in Rhode Island. It's site was dredged to make the Providence shipping channel.
I personally wouldn't mind some oversight on artifacts recovered, maybe like South Carolina does. There are countless stories of divers bringing things up only to have them rust and disintegrate in their backyard. But there are many more divers that would love to show their finds and educate people of the wonders of wrecks and local maritime history.
My $.02
Captain Mark
Plan your Dive, Dive the Wreck, Wreck your Plan