Magnet Fishing for Artifacts?

[CharlieDontDive]

I usually dive the wrecks off NJ which are known to still yield quite a few artifacts. Thus far, I have not succeeded in finding anything although I have dived with folks who have found silverware, ammo casings, etc. I was reading about "magnet fishing" recently which is basically like normal fishing except you have a magnet on a string and try to recover metal objects.

I should note that this is legal in NJ so long as the wreck is not a protected war grave, which most are not.

It got me thinking...could I accomplish the same thing by bringing a big enough magnet down with me and running it over the seafloor? I can't seem to think of any reason why this wouldn't work, so long as one doesn't end up getting it stuck to their tank or to the wreck itself.

Has anyone out there done this? I can't be the first one to think of this.

 

[lowviz]

Problem is, all the interesting stuff is non-magnetic...

 

[CharlieDontDive]

Problem is, all the interesting stuff is non-magnetic...

I'm intrigued- how so?

 

[lowviz]

Brass, china, glass, ceramics...

Add to that the fact that everything "shallow" has been well looked over (time and time again). But that is not to say there isn't a lot of very interesting stuff to find. IMHO, I find the single most useful tool to be a cheap "Wonder Bar". Perfect for moving stuff and digging.

And big whoop if you accidentally lose it in an endless pile of rubble.

This site is your friend: China & Silverware ~ Artifacts etc ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving Do your research. I never found a plate on the SS Mohawk (careful, there are at least THREE Mohawks), but I did find the 'kitchen sink'. See pic

IMHO, amateur 'wrecking' keeps these piles of rusting metal alive. The pros couldn't care less about them. If you find something REALLY nice, like a deck prism (Deck prism - Wikipedia), contact: New Jersey Maritime Museum - Beach Haven, NJ 08008 Realize that this is possibly the only dive region on earth where this sort of thing makes sense and is totally legal.

-knock yourself out...

 

[CharlieDontDive]

Brass, china, glass, ceramics...

Add to that the fact that everything "shallow" has been well looked over (time and time again). But that is not to say there isn't a lot of very interesting stuff to find. IMHO, I find the single most useful tool to be a cheap "Wonder Bar". Perfect for moving stuff and digging.

And big whoop if you accidentally lose it in an endless pile of rubble.

This site is your friend: China & Silverware ~ Artifacts etc ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving Do your research. I never found a plate on the SS Mohawk (careful, there are at least THREE Mohawks), but I did find the 'kitchen sink'. See pic

IMHO, amateur 'wrecking' keeps these piles of rusting metal alive. The pros couldn't care less about them. If you find something REALLY nice, like a deck prism (Deck prism - Wikipedia), contact: New Jersey Maritime Museum - Beach Haven, NJ 08008 Realize that this is possibly the only dive region on earth where this sort of thing makes sense and is totally legal.

-knock yourself out...

View attachment 595716

New Jersey is the only place where this is legal?!

 

[lowviz]

Canada: Hands off everything.
Northeast USA (includes NJ): Hands off any military vessel of any nationality. The keyword here is abandonment: Maritime Salvage Law ~ Artifacts etc ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

 

[Celt]

It always pays to carry a small magnet in your pocket, not to find what it attracts but what it doesn’t. I found this cannon with the help of a magnet, all was showing in the silt was a portion of the trunnion

.

 

[lowviz]

OMG!!!

A Parrott gun. What a find!

 

[Celt]

OMG!!!

A Parrott gun. What a find!

I dug up the gun on the stern of the Cunard Liner Folia, why it was there and what it was for is anyone’s guess

 

[lowwall]

That's a Lyle gun, not a Parrott rifle. The gun was invented by David Lyle, a US Army ordnance officer on loan to Springfield Armory, as a way to pass a line from a lifesaving station to a ship in distress. More info at: David Lyle and his Life Saving Gun - Springfield Armory National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

Here's what it looks like when it hasn't spent many decades under the sea

And here's a photo of the projectile it fired with a short length of its special braided line:

There's a decent page on the Folia in French at Chaque jour, une épave : 11 mars 1917, le Folia, grandeur et décadence d'un paquebot - Plongée Infos . Here's the google translate version which is quite readable: Google Translate