Monday, June 19, 2006
The Nature of Shipwrecks
A recent entry in this weblog related my first encounter with a real shipwreck, the Peacock (aka Spirit of American). Over the weekend I picked up the new book by Professor Trevor Norton, Underwater to Get Out of the Rain. He eloquently addresses the nature of shipwrecks and wreck diving in the following passage from the Lost Ships chapter.
"On land, castles may crumble into romantic ruins, but if they remain reasonably intact we mend the roof then fill them with story-boards and exhibits so that paying customers can shuffle over the ancient but newly swept floors. Sound effects and atmospheric lighting help to create an ambience of ancient times.
Wrecked ships need no such help. They ooze atmosphere and are the eeriest places on earth. The surrounding haze creates mystery and a feeling of discovery. Sometimes snagged nets wreathe hulks in aquatic cobwebs that add an air of witchery. But it is the gloom inside that generates unease. It is impossible to venture into the black heart of a hulk without feeling the below is the darkness something awaits you.
They may also retain the feeling of sudden abandonment. In the cabins of the Hisperia I found a cup with a broken handle, a scrubbing brush beside the bathtub and a lone shoe slowly filling with silt. Down there, these mundane objects became imbued with a poignancy that they could never possess in a museum case. It never occurred to me that they were merely artefacts or souvenirs to be collected; they were still personal items belonging to the crew."
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the ocean, but believe that divers will find it especially insightful and entertaining. It is a good and wonderful read and it has a conservation message without being preachy, unlike too many contemporary books on the ocean.
When I worked for the National Park Service, I gave dozens of presentations on California maritime history and shipwreck preservation, with an accompanying message of why wrecks in National Parks, National Marine Sanctuaries and other designated places needed to be left alone. I did not use the overused phrase, “take only pictures and leave only bubbles” but rather found it ironic that artifact collectors by their very actions deprived forever to others the discovery opportunity that they themselves so diligently sought and highly prized. I defer to Professor Norton, who says it so much more movingly than I.
"On land, castles may crumble into romantic ruins, but if they remain reasonably intact we mend the roof then fill them with story-boards and exhibits so that paying customers can shuffle over the ancient but newly swept floors. Sound effects and atmospheric lighting help to create an ambience of ancient times.
Wrecked ships need no such help. They ooze atmosphere and are the eeriest places on earth. The surrounding haze creates mystery and a feeling of discovery. Sometimes snagged nets wreathe hulks in aquatic cobwebs that add an air of witchery. But it is the gloom inside that generates unease. It is impossible to venture into the black heart of a hulk without feeling the below is the darkness something awaits you.
They may also retain the feeling of sudden abandonment. In the cabins of the Hisperia I found a cup with a broken handle, a scrubbing brush beside the bathtub and a lone shoe slowly filling with silt. Down there, these mundane objects became imbued with a poignancy that they could never possess in a museum case. It never occurred to me that they were merely artefacts or souvenirs to be collected; they were still personal items belonging to the crew."
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the ocean, but believe that divers will find it especially insightful and entertaining. It is a good and wonderful read and it has a conservation message without being preachy, unlike too many contemporary books on the ocean.
When I worked for the National Park Service, I gave dozens of presentations on California maritime history and shipwreck preservation, with an accompanying message of why wrecks in National Parks, National Marine Sanctuaries and other designated places needed to be left alone. I did not use the overused phrase, “take only pictures and leave only bubbles” but rather found it ironic that artifact collectors by their very actions deprived forever to others the discovery opportunity that they themselves so diligently sought and highly prized. I defer to Professor Norton, who says it so much more movingly than I.
# posted by covediver @ 10:27 PM 
