Any thoughts on wreck looting?

[Diving Dubai]

And don't forget the commercial attractiveness of Low background Steel with the ensuing hypocrisy.

 

[Marie13]

Im with you in principle but you honestly want me to believe that if you swam past an intricate gold plated artefact or high $$ value item youd leave it there?

Me? Yes. I don’t need more crap than I already have. But then the wrecks I dive were mostly cargo ships. Rarely valuable stuff. Wrecks on the Great Lakes are usually very well preserved. They still look like wrecks. They’re an unrenewable resource. Some people like to clutter up their homes with all sorts of “collectible” crap. I much prefer pictures.

 

[rjack321]

WW wrecks have already been extensively salvaged, Sorima, Risdon Beasley and numerous others tore them asunder with huge grabs. They weren’t worried how many were lost. To condemn a diver for taking something is ridiculous

Warships remain the property of the nation's government in perpetuity regardless if anyone died.
If you see someone else shoplifting do you start stealing too?

 

[Dogbowl]

If you found a bag of money on the street, would you take it home or bring it to the police station and report it lost by someone? There are people who will do either.

Why should it be any different if it’s in the ocean?

 

[PfcAJ]

On a degrading structure that’s on its way to being a debris pile, I’m in favor of tasteful salvage.

Bring it up and preserve it if you’re so inclined. If you have no intent to preserve it, leave it.

Sites that aren’t degrading (Great Lakes stuff, for instance), leave it.

When in doubt, leave it.

 

[tridacna]

If you found a bag of money on the street, would you take it home or bring it to the police station and report it lost by someone? There are people who will do either.

Why should it be any different if it’s in the ocean?

All depends. Try your righteous pitch on all the divers that retrieved items on the Andrea Doria. Or the You-Who. Or on just about any NE wreck. If you want to share in their spoils, put on a drysuit or check out Fleabay.

 

[rjack321]

If you found a bag of money on the street, would you take it home or bring it to the police station and report it lost by someone? There are people who will do either.

Why should it be any different if it’s in the ocean?

Like it or not, the fact is that it is different. Many wrecks are protected: including all warships, all wrecks with any historical value in Canadian waters, many UK wrecks, wrecks in US National Marine Sanctuaries (east coast, west coast and the great lakes).

 

[Dogbowl]

All depends. Try your righteous pitch on all the divers that retrieved items on the Andrea Doria. Or the You-Who. Or on just about any NE wreck. If you want to share in their spoils, put on a drysuit or check out Fleabay.

And my first thoughts were about those divers, hailed as heros or adventurers or “diving legends” in the books I read of those wrecks. I wonder if the times have changed since then.

 

[lermontov]

If you found a bag of money on the street, would you take it home or bring it to the police station and report it lost by someone? There are people who will do either.

Why should it be any different if it’s in the ocean?

a bag of money in the street hasn't been abandoned and has intrinsic value-

 

[hammet]

I'm pretty sure Spain has claim to anything lying on every sea bed of the world anyway. *shrug*