European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Battle lines drawn Over sunken ships National geographic beyond the protected Harbor of Beaufort i to Small charter boat Lookout lady ran into a 25 vol wind cold 12-foot sea began slamming Inlo the Tibet Glass Bow Andul earning Over me top of a vessel. Inside to cockpit is passengers in Black wet suit grasped tails and seals to veep from Isom what had Bot Ion .1 song org Bronco. Everything on the Bottom out Here Vas torpedoed luring me skipper . Mitchell shouted Over Iho la Mitil of engine and raging water. Nodding toward he open Ocean to added. It s a hell of a Way to gel Good diving Hul it s Sot not inc Best diving nation of its maritime Patrimony. Sources in the recreational diving Industry in the Uhi Ioco self Slys estimate that 3,5 million to a million people have passed a Basic diving Couise according , their favorite activity surpassing Roef. Combing and photography is exploring shipwrecks. It has a sort of mystique ,".said one of the dive s aboard Tho lbs soul lady Robert Fuchs the 26 your old land planning consultant who was making his Host wreck dive added it s one of the most exciting diving a Chance to explore some history that s lying on to a big attraction for Many is the availability of souvenir which can Range from to Gold coins diving Hsu actors provide courses on How to dismantle whole chunks of ships including proper use of wrenches and crowbars and techniques Lor tilling heavy objects to the surface Tho ship s Bell is the most prize Arl Ifal says Shn Divot Magazine publisher Bill Gleason the next would be inc Compass or wheel. But the Bell gives a wreck dive local bragging rights i got the Bell Oft of the such and such ". This kind of Laid Shivers Iho limbers of Many Archeo Logisios " Aro some of Tho most conservative people in the world and rightly so says Helen Hooper of the National Trust Lorhis Loric preservation. Even when they do their work Reghl. They re destroying what they study you Don l do that lightly. You just Don t i witty Nilly ripping things apart and taking the by car Lully noting whom Arlin acts Are found on the sea floor and polling them in context with the rest of a sport diver inspects the encrusted Anchor of Hie John d. Gui in the Atlantic near Wilmington. . Archaeologists Are worried that hobbyists sometimes strip wrecks of their historical value. The wreck and irom what they can discover in written records arc zoologists strive to piece together an account of the ship and its inhabitants their lives and limes and their tale Many sport divert including Gleason say they draw a line at taking Arlo facts frown Sites of Greal historical significance but Haven t been satisfied Wilh allowing amateurs to decide Lor themselves what is fair game and what in t. have a new Law on their Side. After a Sii year congressional debate president Reagan in april 1988 signed the. Abandoned Shipwreck act. It gives individual states ownership of virtually Alt shipwrecks lying within three Miles o the . Co Saltino or on the Bottoms of navigable lakes and Rivers,.Stales May establish their own rules from barring souvenir taking to prohibiting wreck diving altogether. The new Law is aimed primarily at professional the tight Over the Bill however Many in the sport diving Industry became alarmed at Tho possibility thai government control could sharply curtail Amateur wreck diving advocates of the Law including Many state archaeology pm facials. Deny thai such was Ever their intent. In because of the outpouring o interest irom Sporl divers Vermont,1 Michigan and i Florida have established underwater Parks around wreck Sites divers Are encouraged to Visil though not to pocket souvenirs we regard Sporl divers much More As allies than adversaries says Florida slalom archaeologist Jim Miller who envisions uttering amateurs training As skin Der s Glo Sori who helped Lead opposition to the new Law. Remains unconvinced Itiat Sporl divers will be treated fairly. Most new wreck Sites Are discovered by sport divers anyway he argues we should t they to allowed to recover trophies especially when such objects May be destroyed by age before under funded stale archaeology programs can gel. Around to excavating them while.Stales Ponder their newly gained underwater possessions wreck diving continues. Divers aboard the Lookout lady were legally Entil Lod to take artefacts irom the Hutton since in lies 13 Miles off Shore Well beyond the three mile limit of the Law. Bui the the sea would t cooperate. By the time they reached the site All but one diver had became notably seasick. Underwater Murty. Conditions and a Strong Curry no discouraged an extensive souvenir Hunt around the twisted Brown Hulk which had taken 13 seamen with in when it Sank fish swam through ragged tears in its Bow. Back aboard to wildly pitching charter boal.1he exhausted group decided against a second dive and the . Hutton once again a sled in Poco. Thriving herds at Chamois Are close to their population limits in some areas. Protecting the Chamois National geographic h ugh on the ire Etess peaks of the Swiss National Park at Vernaz the nimble is maled 1,250 of the Fleet creatures relatives of goals and source of some of the world s softest Loather dwell in protected peace in the -105-Square-mile preserve in Southeastern Switzerland Hunting is banned in the Pristine Park the Only one Oll a kind in a Small landlocked Nalion. So Are fishing camping Flower gathering and other activities thai might disturb the wild late visitors Are restricted to authorized trails. For Tho Chamois a lha Park the Protection is a mixed Blessing the Chamois a a not making Many problems says Robert f Schlolh. Director of Iho Park. But they Are at the upper limit of population m some areas. We have to watch thai very carefully " overpopulation can big among other things a by carried co disease Hal tends Large numbers of Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday March 26.1989
