Ethical practice in wreck diving

[mjh]

If a group or government want to make a site off limits to diving I can respect that. You just have to tour the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor to understand.

Otherwise I believe if the wrecks integrity is respected then diving them is fine. We also dove the wrecks of Chuuk and it was a great but sometimes a sobering experience. I hated seeing people taking bullets and spelling out their names, pilling up artifacts so they could get a better picture and even handling the remains of the sailors. As with the reefs these should be NO TOUCH zones.

 

[boulderjohn]

When I dove the wrecks in Chuuk (Truk Lagoon), I was instantly and continually awed by the sense of the terrrible reality of what happened on those ships. The difference between diving those ships and the sanitized artifical reefs is night and day. I did not see anyone whose respect did not increase from that experience. Hence, I have no problem with such a respectful visitation.

So far everyone on this thread who has mentioned taking artifacts from these wrecks has been opposed to it, as am I. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that this is a consensus among the diving community. When the Oriskany was sunk a while ago, a diver's pillaging of it led to one of the most raging flame wars in the history of ScubaBoard. Many people expressed the same "leave it as it is" attitude you have seen on this thread and which I strongly support, but a large number of posters had the opposite belief. "If it's there, it's there for the taking" was their attitude.

Opinions grew increasingly heated, and I don't believe many opinions were changed. Speaking for myself, the pro-looting point of view was beyond comprehension. I could not understand the selfishness of that point of view. It was obvious, though, that to these people the "leave it as it is" attitude was equally incomprehensible.

 

[psychocabbage]

I know my view is "non-traditional" - but here it is anyway. I don't believe in any concept of "hallowed ground". The dead, as wonderful as they may have been, are in fact, dead. Their time has come and gone. I believe the world is for those still living. Personally, I think it is a crying shame that valuable real estate is set aside for a collection of dead bodies (cemeteries). I think it's a serious waste of space that could be put to much better use (not to mention the costs of coffins, funerals, etc.). I certainly don't think that underwater wrecks are special in any way, just because someone died there - no matter who it was or why they died.

FWIW - when I die, please don't lock my body up in a box or urn. Just dump me off in a ditch somewhere and allow my nutrients to benefit those still living. If I die in a shipwreck, you guys are more than welcome to come and check me out - and if you want my watch, wallet, wedding ring, skull, or anything else I've got, you're more than welcome to take it - as I will no longer have any use for it.

Cheers!
nd

very similar except I enjoy taking up space so I want a tomb of my own for my stuff..


but wrecks and whatnot, pfft.. Its there for all.. I really dont care what happens there.. If I do happen to go out on a boat then I would share your viewpoint.. but if I go out here on land, I am taking up space!

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I don't have an issue diving any wreck as long as the site is treated with the respect it and the people who died there deserve. I like to read up on the history of a wreck before I dive on it, because it makes the dive more interesting if you know the history behind it. Nothing looks worse than a wreck covered in graffiti by divers drawing in the silt on it. I believe nothing should be removed, rearranged, or moved from any wreck for any reason, and there should be severe consequences and penalties for anyone who defaces or removes anything from any wreck for any reason.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

you approach the dive/site with the knowledge/respect of the lives lost and that you disturb/take nothing while your there. Then I think its ok.

but just because someone died somewhere is not in of itself grounds to bar anyone else from going there again. The cemetary was a good analogy... of course No one would approve of a bunch of pinheads whooping it up/messing around in our loved ones place of final rest, but have no problem at all with those that visit Respectfully.

Its all in how you conduct yourself.

Agreed. I actually think if people dive it knowing someone died there it could be considered respectful, sort of like visiting a WW1 battlefield. It means that people still remember the tragedy and the lives lost aren't just forgotten.

I guess the controversy would be that honestly people aren't diving to show their respect, but for "fun", so I guess if the families look at it this way, I can't really blame them.

 

[webjr]

very similar except I enjoy taking up space so I want a tomb of my own for my stuff..

I wouldn't mind taking up space with one of these....

Eternal Reefs, A Cremation Memorial Option

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I wouldn't disturb the skeletons, but I'd sill dive any wreck. I don't avoid intersections where people died in traffic accidents.

 

[vtxkev]

This is a very good question and I believe the words "We don't avoid cemetaries, & we dont avoid intersections where people have died" about sum it up. But then again everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[NudeDiver]

I agree with the last two posters. That's a good way to put it.

 

[Diver0001]

People die in large numbers every day. Some of them die horrible deaths that we wouldn't wish for them but death is still a natural part of life (perhaps the *most* natural part of life).

I've honestly never been bothered diving on wrecks where people have died. On one of the local wrecks I believe some 300 people died and it still doesn't bother me. Having said that, I think there is a need to leave human remains where they are. Some people still find it disturbing--including family and friends of the deceased--so we need to be mindful of that.

My 2c worth.

R..
p.s. BTW, I don't think a wreck can be compared to a grave. Bodies are placed in a grave deliberately, often (usually?) as part of the "healing" process of the living. Bodies are never deliberately put in a wreck and it's never part of a "healing" process. I think some wrecks are called "war graves" but I think it's misnomer like calling the carnage after a tsunami "mother nature grave". Wrecks are never graves.