TheFoggyMask
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And also, the morallity of the antiquities trade and things you find personally. Lacking a sticky in this forum, or any kind of ongoing thread about this, I feel like I have to say something. Forgive me in advance if my thoughts seem disconnected or confusing, but I have an intense for wrecks and the like and their preservation.
I know that most people who will ever see wrecks or encounter significant remains are probably going to be well trained individuals with a respect for what they find, or treasure hunters of not so many years past rampaging, especially around Florida and areas rumored to have gold. If you are ever to encounter a wreck or find archealogical remains you have to understand that these are not the days of Jaques Cousteau and Dumas, Dumas in paticular who pillaged a great deal of things from wrecks, these items do not belong to you and should not be moved or removed. Even if you plan on donating them to the proper authorities, who will most likely be appaled that you have removed the object in the first place, it is still not acceptable.
The treasures that lie beneath my have a slight monitary value to buy you some beer and a good story, but their cultural significance is enormous. The scourge of genuine achaelogists is the treasure hunter; those who hunt for purely personal gain and glory by finding gold and other values with mailboxes, fixtures to the propellers of a boat which shoot water downwards into the substrate. This completely destroys the context of the artifacts but leaving the valuables intact to be collected. It destroys wood and other delicate remains that are really the bounty to be had. But you as a recrational or technical diver can cause damage to the sanctity of a wreck and its culturally significant value.
I have aquantiances who are fairly well off DIR divers who frequent such sites and work at times with SCRET, Submerged Cultural Resources Explortaion Team. They work hard to preserve these sites, and often times sadly note the removal of significant portions of a wreck. Not only have you damaged historical evidence, but desecrated the site for future divers generations to come. Florida maritime history in paticular has taken incredible blows due to selfish actions as such.
Although by and large government officials have been convinced that allowing commerical treasure hunters to loot sites is unacceptblae, I'm sure that unscrupulous individuals feel the need for a souvenier or conversation peice from a wreck that, in their minds, has no owner but the sea. That wreck does belong to someone, it belongs to me and everyone else in a world much bigger than yourself. Keep your hands to yourself and take home pictures and memories, as clique as it is.
In short, it really burns my ***.
I know that most people who will ever see wrecks or encounter significant remains are probably going to be well trained individuals with a respect for what they find, or treasure hunters of not so many years past rampaging, especially around Florida and areas rumored to have gold. If you are ever to encounter a wreck or find archealogical remains you have to understand that these are not the days of Jaques Cousteau and Dumas, Dumas in paticular who pillaged a great deal of things from wrecks, these items do not belong to you and should not be moved or removed. Even if you plan on donating them to the proper authorities, who will most likely be appaled that you have removed the object in the first place, it is still not acceptable.
The treasures that lie beneath my have a slight monitary value to buy you some beer and a good story, but their cultural significance is enormous. The scourge of genuine achaelogists is the treasure hunter; those who hunt for purely personal gain and glory by finding gold and other values with mailboxes, fixtures to the propellers of a boat which shoot water downwards into the substrate. This completely destroys the context of the artifacts but leaving the valuables intact to be collected. It destroys wood and other delicate remains that are really the bounty to be had. But you as a recrational or technical diver can cause damage to the sanctity of a wreck and its culturally significant value.
I have aquantiances who are fairly well off DIR divers who frequent such sites and work at times with SCRET, Submerged Cultural Resources Explortaion Team. They work hard to preserve these sites, and often times sadly note the removal of significant portions of a wreck. Not only have you damaged historical evidence, but desecrated the site for future divers generations to come. Florida maritime history in paticular has taken incredible blows due to selfish actions as such.
Although by and large government officials have been convinced that allowing commerical treasure hunters to loot sites is unacceptblae, I'm sure that unscrupulous individuals feel the need for a souvenier or conversation peice from a wreck that, in their minds, has no owner but the sea. That wreck does belong to someone, it belongs to me and everyone else in a world much bigger than yourself. Keep your hands to yourself and take home pictures and memories, as clique as it is.
In short, it really burns my ***.