Dead eye

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seniorscuba1

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Howdy, I found this dead eye on the back of an old brig that wrecked in a storm while trying to seek shelter behind a large island unfortunately the ship ran up on a reef and was completely destroyed . It happened in 1911 the ship was named the Petra DSCN0050.JPG
 

nhpharm

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That same argument could be made for the bottles we dig...noting that the bottles we dig would survive for hundreds or thousands more years in the ground but the ocean will destroy most shallow wrecks very quickly. I know this is a sensitive topic, but removal of a wooden deadeye from a coastal wreck preserves that artifact and certainly won't decrease the enjoyment of the likely very few divers who visit this wreck.
 

sandchip

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Very cool find. This landlubber had to look it up. I'd keep it painted with a 50/50 mixture of raw linseed oil and turpentine to keep it from coming apart as it dries out.
 

PorkDaSnork

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That same argument could be made for the bottles we dig...noting that the bottles we dig would survive for hundreds or thousands more years in the ground but the ocean will destroy most shallow wrecks very quickly. I know this is a sensitive topic, but removal of a wooden deadeye from a coastal wreck preserves that artifact and certainly won't decrease the enjoyment of the likely very few divers who visit this wreck.
Bottles are dumped away... they were garbage. Shipwrecks are technically still property of the shipping company, and the “very few” divers who visit it will be certainly disappointed that the wreck will soon be stripped to some planking of the hull.
 

Drift

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Is it better for a deadeye to rot in the ocean, or to be lovingly preserved and admired for a long time? We never would have seen this if OP didn't dive for it. I'm not trying to pick a fight! I definitely see the value on both sides of the debate.
 

PorkDaSnork

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Is it better for a deadeye to rot in the ocean, or to be lovingly preserved and admired for a long time? We never would have seen this if OP didn't dive for it. I'm not trying to pick a fight! I definitely see the value on both sides of the debate.
If a wreck is a century old and the deadeye still looks like that, I’m sure it’s fine just where it is. They also will dry out quickly and rot on land... unless you brush it with water and such every week.
 

Drift

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What about access...very few people (relatively) are able, willing, and equipped to dive, but most people can admire images or visit a museum or somebody's collection. Could a civilian taking an object from a wreck occasionally be the best thing for the public, by making it more available to them?

Thanks for the reasoned response. I'll fully admit I'm going into this biased as a bottle digger, and I'm interested to learn more about shipwreck and artifact ethics. I tried selling a native celt recently. I need the money but it gave me the willies, so I took the ad down.
 
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