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You are so right! If it has been deemed a grave or memorial then it should be hands off. Treasure wrecks fall into a different category. If I find a wreck andKim Eslinger said:It is indeed an interesting article....if you take into account that the interviewee skims over the simple fact that vessels that are looted by salvagers are often destroyed in the process thus rendering their historic/arcaheological value moot and making them worthless dives for sport divers.
Salvage of a vessel implies that the vessel has no historic value, is not a war grave, and has sunk quite recently. The salvager of said vessel not only takes on the liability of the wreck but also the monetary gain of recovering the vessel or its cargo for bidders.
Treasure hunters often use the word salvage for what they are doing when they recover artifacts from wrecksites around the globe. However, the original owner of the vessel is often a nation and the vessel is often of historic merit - thus the destruction of the vessel and the selling of the artifacts is a tragedy.
Wouldn't it be sad though if we suddenly lost the opportunity to dive on truly incredible wrecksites because every diver before us took something? These are not renewable resources. We are already educated within the dive community to look and not touch with corals, why is this such a struggle with ship wrecks?