Spidgers…. March 12, 2006
Posted by chris in : Uncategorized , trackbackWhat started all this stuff about wreck legislation then? Well there are a number of views but in the final analysis it has to be said that much as we like to blame other folks the recreational diving community has had its part to play.
For many years there has been a lot of debate about the removal of small (or large) items from wrecks by amateur divers. The majority of divers that remove stuff keep it for themselves for either display in their homes or simply to rust away in the garage.
To a large extent this activity is legal and accepted. Many items removed in this manner would otherwise rust away over the years and be lost. The sea also reclaims its treasures and shifting sand and tide will eventually cover or hide for ever many artefacts.
The problem is that (as in all things) there are a small majority of people for whom this is not enough. These guys head towards the seabed equipped with crowbars and hammers and a determination to remove anything shiny from the wrecks that they dive on. In most instances these guys have no idea what it is they are doing simply that brass or stainless is in their view “collectable”.
I have dived with a number of such individuals and they are generally a good laugh and nice enough people. It’s simply that their view is whatever is on the seabed is “fair game” and therefore what they do is OK.
At its most extreme taking artefacts or “spidge” as divers refer to them can offend the relatives of the people who died on the wreck and can be illegal under a variety of laws. Some divers are less bothered about this than they are about collecting spidge and as a result the sport of recreational wreck diving has come under the spotlight of the government.
As ever the government has over reacted and here we are with the proposals. But who can blame them when divers have recovered spidge from protected wrecks, historic wrecks and designated war graves? Worse of all is the fact that some commercial charter skippers have accepted that this is what their customers want and allowed it to happen.
We need to protect our sport but at the same time we need to understand why its under threat in the first place…..
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