"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
26 April 2023
The upside of hurricanes
This is the ultimate dream discovery for every old man with a metal detector. The authorities of course respond by asking the public to stay away because it could be dangerous (i.e. "please leave the gold doubloons for us").
From The Daytona Beach News-Journal, December 2022 (via USA Today):
If I find a shipwreck, who owns it? Can I claim a shipwreck?
That depends on where it was found, and who owned the ship in the first place.
The Abandoned Shipwreck Act, passed in 1987 to protect historical shipwrecks from treasure hunters, gives U.S. states ownership title of all shipwrecks found within U.S. territorial waters up to three miles from the coastline. In Florida, the Bureau of Archaeological Research monitors activity on them to make sure they are handled appropriately and the wreck and the environment are not disturbed. You don't get to keep it.
If the sunken or wrecked ship was United States military, the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004 claims it for the U.S.
You should also check with local and state laws – in Florida, for example, the Florida Historical Resources Act adds navigable rivers, streams, lakes and bays to that, and extends that ocean jurisdiction out to 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Disturbing or digging at a site on state land or underwater is illegal unless permission or permits are obtained in advance from the state Division of Historical Resources. Intentional excavation of underwater sites without written authorization is considered a third-degree felony. Ask first.
From The Daytona Beach News-Journal, December 2022 (via USA Today):
ReplyDeleteIf I find a shipwreck, who owns it? Can I claim a shipwreck?
That depends on where it was found, and who owned the ship in the first place.
The Abandoned Shipwreck Act, passed in 1987 to protect historical shipwrecks from treasure hunters, gives U.S. states ownership title of all shipwrecks found within U.S. territorial waters up to three miles from the coastline. In Florida, the Bureau of Archaeological Research monitors activity on them to make sure they are handled appropriately and the wreck and the environment are not disturbed. You don't get to keep it.
If the sunken or wrecked ship was United States military, the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004 claims it for the U.S.
You should also check with local and state laws – in Florida, for example, the Florida Historical Resources Act adds navigable rivers, streams, lakes and bays to that, and extends that ocean jurisdiction out to 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Disturbing or digging at a site on state land or underwater is illegal unless permission or permits are obtained in advance from the state Division of Historical Resources. Intentional excavation of underwater sites without written authorization is considered a third-degree felony. Ask first.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/10/finding-shipwrecks-artifacts-what-to-know/10864715002/