BROCKVILLE, Ontario (10 Feb 2006) -- The sole living survivor of the J.B. King explosion believes that while divers should still be allowed access to the wreck, the site should be protected and recognized as a gravesite. Now 94, Captain Ev Snider was one of 11 people to survive the drillboat explosion in June 1930. Although dive sites in the Brockville area of the St. Lawrence River are not affected by a new provincial regulation designed to protect three shipwrecks in Lake Ontario and Lake Superior, he believes that visitors to the site should be made aware that that the J.B. King is the resting place of 13 to 17 men. Thirty men died when the drillboat was struck by lightning and exploded more than 75 years ago, and the bodies of more than 13 men were never recovered, he said. "They never found them. They might have been blown to bits, I don't know," Snider said. Still, he wouldn't want the J.B. King to be declared off limits to divers without a special permit from the province like the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior and the Hamilton and the Scourge in Lake Ontario. The J.B. King is positioned off the northwest corner of Cockburn Island, in the Brockville Narrows, about 125 feet underwater. "Diving and viewing the shipwrecks has become quite a business around here," said Snider. "It's quite a thing for divers to come to the area and it's a source of revenue for the area. I wouldn't like to see people banned from the wrecks. "My view is that if they can see (the site) and not touch it, then its OK," said Snider. "But you would need the assurance that they wouldn't touch anything and it's very hard to police. "As long as they leave it intact (it's OK)," he said. "People are always after getting souvenirs and it takes away from the wrecks." Snider said he was told that the steering wheel from a little workboat he was running had been removed from the wreck site. Although it doesn't bother him to hear about divers going down to explore the sunken drillboat, people should remember that the J.B. King is a gravesite and treat it with respect, Snider said. Other Brockville residents agreed with Snider. "Perhaps the wreck site should be treated with the same reverence as that shown to the Edmund Fitzgerald," said Brockville resident Geoff Chittenden in an interview with the Recorder and Times. | | CYBER DIVER ALERT | Partners in crime: Grave robbers 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 historically and culturally significant 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 and criminal group of industry-promoted 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 crude hate sites, their chat room antics nor their criminal attempts to intimidate, harass and blackmail responsible, eco-friendly dive companies that support full protection of marine wildlife, shipwrecks and underwater war graves," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Such unscrupulous and criminal 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 vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Shipwrecks are part of our historical and cultural heritage. For scuba divers, shipwrecks are fascinating underwater museums that must 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 added. "It is absolutely imperative that the global scuba diving community, archaeologists, coast guards, police and tax authorities act now to prevent Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, David Morton (of the Boston Sea Rovers) and other shipwreck looters from exploiting and destroying sunken ships for their personal coffee table displays, internet self-promotion schemes, commercial 'museum' profits and tax-evasion scams." 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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