Should shipwrecks be left alone?

[arcFlash]

BBC Article -
"It is 10 years since a deal to protect the world's thousands of shipwrecks, but the UK and several other major maritime powers are yet to ratify it. Should this underwater heritage be protected or is it acceptable to plunder?"

[Terry]

               RATS! Steve it STILL hasn't been taken care of. Seems no govts can agree how to get their fair share. Here's to hoping its gets "rat"ified,,,,,,

[rcojr]

Terry 
So how long did you sit on the edge of your chair just waiting to use that picture?
Bob

[Terry]

                            Bob you have to know I dont spend much time sitting on the edge of my chair waiting on anything.  Good talking to you tonight!

[popolarbear]

i had to look close at that picture to fully appreciate it. I would say eventually it should be protected under some historical or archaeological artifact......ha ha ha. that is some masterfully funny ass pic. nice job terry!


say i goto ask. is that a see thru shirt, or stick on nipple caps or painted body art?.....

.in germany when i lived there although uncommon, it was fully legal to walk naked in public with painted body art, but the lower extremities had to be shaved.

[Shooter]

Nice post Steve.  8) a relevant topic that requires serious discussion.

Sean Fisher, whose grandfather Mel discovered the treasure ship Nuestra Senora de Atocha off Florida, says he is not "ashamed to call himself a treasure hunter."

"Purist archaeologists turn up their noses at us," he says. "But every artefact we find, whether it's a piece of pottery, a gold bar or a spike used in the rigging gets treated with exactly the same care.

"Everybody loves gold and everybody has a bit of treasure hunter in them but for me the most exciting thing I ever found was a 400-year-old arquebus (hook gun). It was like bringing history back to life."

Purist archaeologists? That sounds strikingly familiar. In my opinion treasure hunters are archaeologists. The only difference is they have a lot more risk with capital ventured. They don't get paid unless they find what they're looking for. Archaeologists, using grants, donations, and other sources of income which ultimately come from tax revenues, get paid to look. It seems to me they have a sense of entitlement, and the rest of us are vile looters with crowbars