RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Empress of Ireland (was: Forbes story)

["martlet1" <martlet1@sbcglobal.net>]

Well, just look what they did to Mel Fisher.  Spent a good portion of his
entire life barely getting by while he looked for the Atocha, and then the
state of Florida tried to horn in on his work.  And they wanted ALL of it.
Never done any treasure diving myself, but if I did ever find anything, I
think I'd just stash the GPS coordinates away and dive it during the dead of
night....  Historical and scientific value aside, it takes either a lot of
work or a lot of luck to find something like this, and I think the finder is
entitled to at least part of his find.  If you do the background research
and work, you're entitled to more than just a "thank you".

Texas Lake Diver

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of E.L. King
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 7:29 PM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Empress of Ireland (was: Forbes story)


The most I'd ever want to do is take pictures and/or video.  While I
don't protest the recovery of artifacts from wreck sites, it isn't
something I'd do.  I'm not a professional, and the recovery of
artifacts and their preservation is most definitely the realm of
professionals.  In my opinion.

Erick
On Thursday, Mar 20, 2003, at 19:58 America/Indianapolis, Steven Mills
wrote:
> Something you might want to consider and check-out before doing
> any exploring on your own [ on dry land or uw ].  The feds and many
> states now have antiquity laws and regulations that prohibit this.
> Most of the regs deal with the taking of artifacts and damaging sites
> but some cover "trespassing" in designated areas which can result
> in heavy fines and/or imprisonment.
>
> There is a famous federal court case involving "Sue" a TRex uncovered
> in Montana (?).  These people went through hell and were eventually
> exonerated on most of the charges, but still got heavily fined for
> other
> minor ones.
>
> --Steve