The Last Dive - A Few Questions

Finally picked up a copy of The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury. A decent book, but I've got a question on it.

A lot of the divers in the book (including the author) seem to be obsessed with retrieving artifacts. I have never dove wrecks on the scale of the Doria, but have done lots of wreck diving in the Great Lakes. There, if you come up off the bottom with an artifact while on a charter boat, you would be pretty much kicked off the boat. It's considered somewhat of a sin to even think about taking anything off of the ships.

Even the author himself states in his book that divers should live by the rule to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but bubbles...so how does he justify using that statement and then going down to the Doria and grabbing as much stuff as he can smash into a bag? And, for you divers that have dove the Doria or other wrecks such as this, why do you retrieve all the artifacts? Do you not subscribe to the idea of leaving the wreck pristine for others to view?

I'm just curious....the viewpoints in this book seem to heavily contradict with many of the things I have heard from the wreck divers I have dove with. While I admit it would be "neat" to have something on a wall, I find it much more beautiful to view it as it was, laying on the floor of the lake or the ocean.

Do you not subscribe to the idea of leaving the wreck pristine for others to view?

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For the most part, no.

A lot of the difference is in where the wrecks are located. Everything stays nice and pristine in the cold fresh water of the Great Lakes but in warmer salt water it's a different story. What lasts 100 years in fresh may only last 20 in salt, then it's gone, for noone to view.

This whole debate, taking vs leaving, has been beat to death on every dive related mailing list. It certainly won't be solved here but you probably will find lots of support for your viewpoint as there are not many hard-core wreck divers here.

Many who take artifacts believe that this is the only way of preserving the artifacts and bringing them to the public view. I agree with this viewpoint.

I fully agree with protection of specific historical wrecks, and even entire areas, but not with blanket protection of all wrecks. My opinion is that if one wants to see artifacts scattered on the bottom, one should stick to wrecks in protected areas.

Tom

As a service to the dive community, and to preserve the general shape of the wreck for future divers, I propose the following rules of thumb for what to take and what to leave:

DO take dinner plates.
DON'T take deck plates.

DO take sea shells
DON'T take artillery shells

to abide by those rules!

Tom

Thank you for the clarification - I have not been exposed to that attitude towards wreck diving yet, nor have I ever dove in a salt water environment.

I appreciate your reply - I knew someone would be able to clear it up for me a little.

Great Lakes shipwrecks protected . Yeah they protect them once they find them and take anything that might be of value off first. Dont think the wrecks you dive in the Great Lakes havent been touched. People find them, keep them hush hush, take what they want, then only do they let people know where they are. Usually the only thing left is a couple of garbge tools and some plain looking plates. Usually. Its funny how you end up diving a so called new wreck only to find out they actually found it last year.
Trust me this is how it works. I am a firm beleiver in finders keepers.:hiding:

True....well hell. Guess I'm just gonna have to get in there and get my own then, huh?

Honestly, I really don't care. Most of the stuff pulled up off of wrecks has no value really, so what the heck do I want with it anyway. I know I've been on the wreck, I don't need to prove it. It seems like too many people get "artifact fever" and really lose perspective on it anyway - that's all they care about. They quit enjoying the beauty of the shipwreck for what it is and ignore everything but a plate.

I man c'mon...if you want a plate, save yourself the 100's of $$ for the charter and I'll sell ya one for 50 bucks.

You're right, when the purpose of the dive is getting the artifact, you've missed something. The purpose of the artifact should be the telling of the history to those who could never touch it otherwise.

Tom

Good point Tom....for now, I'll just enjoy swimming around and exploring inside of the wrecks. It's a big enough rush for me the way it is =)

Omicron once bubbled...
Good point Tom....for now, I'll just enjoy swimming around and exploring inside of the wrecks. It's a big enough rush for me the way it is =)

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I'm really not much of a collector either, although I do believe in others' right to do so. For me the excitement and the learning are the main goals.

Tom