Stellwagen Bank Robbery? :11:
It is the name of one of the book's chapters.
Correct!
Actually, it's a bit more than merely a chapter, the
Stellwagen Bank Robbery is a substantial part of the book. It chronicles Gary Gentile’s (and several others) attempt to acquire the coordinates for shipwrecks known to NOAA within the marine sanctuary. These are sites that our tax dollars were used to find. And, while many of the wrecks are past recreational diving limits, others are not. We’re not talking about any kind of national security issues here, in my opinion, just a government bureaucracy that does not want to relinquish an iota of power over its little fiefdom.
Keep in mind that diving or fishing is not prohibited within the sanctuary – yet. So releasing the numbers should not be an issue. In fact, at other marine sanctuaries in the U.S. the locations of sites are published and diving is seemingly encouraged. Not so at this site.
As stated earlier, several other people and/or groups have been and are working to locate and preserve our ability to dive these sites off the coast of Massachusetts. Most notably there are Captains Heather Knowles and Dave Caldwell of
Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions and founders of
Shipwreck Divers, as well as Bob Foster and his group at
Boston Deep Wrecks. These people are finding and diving some of the wrecks within the sanctuary already. More importantly, their hard work has secured a representative’s seat representing divers within the advisory board which will manage the sanctuary.
My little contribution in the attempt to obtain the known locations of the wrecks within the sanctuary started in 2005. Basically, we went banging on the front door. Working in concert with Gary, I filed a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) with NOAA requesting “the precise Global Positioning System coordinates for all shipwrecks within the boundaries of the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary”. When that went unanswered, I enlisted the aid of Congressman Patrick Kennedy and channeled my FOIA request through his office. Only then did I get a response. In short; after a denial for my request, an appeal filed (by me), and another denial, we were left with only one option – litigation, which we did not pursue. It was not necessary, as we felt that we were successful in revealing NOAA’s true intentions and the locations were in fact being found through other avenues. All the fascinating details are in the book. As I said in another post; the Stellwagen section alone is worth the price of the book.
Hey, I’m not a “black helicopter” sort of person, but, just know that there are entities out there that want to regulate where and if you can dive in the ocean. And there are other individuals and groups diligently working to ensure that we continue to have access to these “public” sites.
Now, before I get flamed for merely being a shill for Gary and trying to get people to buy a book, I have no financial interest or anything to gain through the sales of the book. Buy the book, don’t buy it, borrow it, or stand in a dive shop and read it, it makes no difference to me. Yes, he’s a friend and I hope the book sells, but if it doesn’t, Gary will be just fine. What is important is that divers get educated and stay involved lest we risk losing what we have through indifference. It’s easy and free, simply check out
Shipwreck Divers, sign the petition, and show up at a meeting or two when notified.
Be Safe,
Dennis
