TORONTO, Canada (31 Jan 2006) -- Divers are now required to get special permission to access three well-known shipwrecks in Ontario waters, including the Edmund Fitzgerald. The new regulation under the Ontario Heritage Act applies to the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck in Lake Superior, one of the best known shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. It also affects the Hamilton and Scourge in Lake Ontario. Culture Minister Madeleine Meilleur says anyone wishing to dive to one of these sites or to operate research equipment near them will require a licence from the province. Meilleur says the sites need special protection because they contain human remains and must be treated with care and respect. The Edmund Fitzgerald was an American bulk carrier that sank in a storm Nov. 10, 1975. All 29 crew were lost in Canadian waters northwest of Whitefish Point, Mich. The Hamilton and Scourge were merchant schooners pressed into naval service during the War of 1812. Both sank in Lake Ontario, north of Port Dalhousie, in August 1813. Of the 72 crew aboard both ships, 53 perished, the single greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes during that war. "The sites we have chosen for special protection are unique," said Meilleur. "We want to ensure that these fragile underwater sites - all of which contain human remains - are treated with care and respect." SOURCE - CP | | Liars and looters Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard. Following the lead of dive industry-endorsed shipwreck looters Bishop and Sheard, scuba diving thieves around the world are destroying wrecks for bragging rights, coffee table displays and internet auction profits that amount to a fraction of the revenue shipwrecks can generate as fully protected underwater museums. FROM THE EDITORS OF CDNN Despite dive industry 'take pictures, leave only bubbles' green-wash, a small but strident group of scuba diving looters steal artifacts from shipwrecks under the guise of 'archaeological exploration', and aggressively compete for bragging rights, product endorsements and profits from the sales of stolen artifacts that are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs. "We do not care about Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard's personality problems, their hate-mongering web sites, their chat room shenanigans nor their crude attempts to blackmail responsible, eco-friendly dive companies that support full protection of marine wildlife and shipwrecks," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Such unscrupulous conduct is beneath contempt and serves only to substantiate accusations that Bishop and Sheard have committed crimes and will continue to do so unless authorities step in." "The fact is that the vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing, and with good reason," Allard added. "For scuba divers, every shipwreck is an underwater museum to be fully protected for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations of divers who will dive deeper and longer thanks to ongoing improvements in diving technology ," Allard said. CYBER DIVER ALERT | If you have information pertaining to the theft and/or sale of wreck artifacts, or desecration of underwater grave sites by Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, organized crime gangs or anyone else, please contact CDNN immediately and your information will be passed along to appropriate authorities. REPORT SCUBA LOOTER |
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