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John You are correct: an archaeologist rips off the taxpayers to put the porthole in the basement of his museum. This is a fra cry from the wreck diver spending his or her own money to recover the porthole. If ever enacted, the UNESCO Convention (for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage) will not "protect" any shipwreck--it will simply declare illegal what has been a perfectly legal activity for millenia: the recovery of distressed property from marine peril, or "salvage". Rather than promoting the archaeological study of historic shipwrecks, the Convention will encourage clandestine "looting" of sites for sale on the black market--precisely the opposite result that it is intended to engender. Morveover, under US law (as declared last year by an unanimous Supreme Court), a sovereign "owner" of a warship cannot prevent its salvage. The US will never sign on to the UNESCO Convention; it will continue to be legal to conduct one's salvage operations under the protection of the US court system. All you looters feel free to call me if some desk-bound, non-diving bureaucrat is wagging his or her finger at you and accusing you of being a naughty boy or girl. Proud of my portholes, Peter Hess -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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