Grave Robbers of the Great Lakes

[Timberextra]

@twigsta agreed

[Timberextra]

@justicefmprice I must agree with you. sad as it seems, but the truth nonetheless.

[JayandCompany95]

I really mind hearing about people going down and looking at these wrecks, as long as they don't touch anything, or take anything but pictures.

[justicefmprice]

Ah, jeez...all you people place too much stock in sacred ground.

Nothing is sacred anymore, not in this day and age, and not for the future.

The days of innocence are gone, and the more people propogate the worse it's going to get.

As well..nothing lasts forever.

Use your heads.

You think a hundred years from now your plot will be safe, or 10,000, or even in 4.5 billion years when the sun goes nova?

You're just another life form in the universe, and nothing special.

Get over yourselves.

[freespiritjustsoul]

I can't BELIEVE any human would pick up a leg bone, a skull, remove the wedding ring!! Disturbing!! The only good that can come of this is awareness to what other cultures go through when we disturb their grave-sites!!

[twigsta]

A despicable action, but how is it any different from the excavating of tomb artifacts and sarcophagi for museums?

[jamiebellwolf]

@twigsta those are different from that because we see the history of the pyryamids.

[logik316]

@twigsta

Excavations of such ancient graves provide scientific knowledge, and the families of those interred people are long gone anyway. Big difference between uncovering a mummy, and messing around with somebody's late grandpa.

[boleynali]

theres no way should be handling someones skull.you moron.

[lisany749]

Shame on those people!!

[BeetleGirl1977]

I can't imagine the agony of drowning in total darkness like the dudes aboard this ship did. There is a memory that goes with that wedding ring that probably has been forgotten by all parties concerned but like that memory, the ring went with it and should have stayed with it's rightful owner. The last time that person was without his ring was before he was married. The diver could have left the ring there. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE!

[KLUNKET]

What in the hell?!?!?! I can't believe my eyes!!! I could see removing this ring if the family of the deceased requested it, and even then it's questionable...but this is ABSOLUTELY shameful. If there were such a possibility of ghosts I hope the man who's ring was taken haunts the living hell out of this thief who disturbed his resting place. I am just shocked that what was thought of as a respectable Historical Society would engage in such behavior. Was his family notified of this???

[Sodiumreactor]

That ring should have went to his family. Shouldnt be on display anywhere. 

[jamiebellwolf]

@Sodiumreactor Yeah I agree or the remains brought up and then autopisied and anything on the remains should go to the FAMILIES!

[rolynstone48]

One has to wonder where the line is drawn between "grave robbing" and "archeology" ?

[rickster348]

must be some of Obama's buddies, lol.

[sharkgirlrox]

Ok so basically they stole PRECIOUS artifacts from this shipwreck?! As a native of Michigan I have to say that is the most stupidest thing ever! I don't get why they would do that leave them alone and let the loss souls live on with peace WITH their belongings!

[Mortskcab]

Not all divers are robbbers my uncle dives many wrecks and all he does is just take photos

[48alfaone]

Shame, Shame, Shame on the fuckers who removed that ring!! The Man my be just dusty bones now, But that's someones love one who still suffers the deep loss!!

[jkoff76]

They removed a wedding ring from a dead sailor!! Are you kidding me? This isn't a god damn mummified Egyptian pharaoh.  That is a man who died eight years earlier. This is sick!

[machinegun0478714950]

@jkoff76 damn this is pritty sick those bastards are so sick man they remove a ring from a dead sailor that died 8 years ago this is not only graverobbery but this is having no respeckt for the dead!!

[locodriver107]

as a future archeologist ive got to say that what ever we do is in the preservation of history. some artifacts such as this would normally have been gifted to the family and only put on display if they wish. either way seeing the ring in a museum is better than having it disintigrate in a few hundred feet of water with a forgotten ship, this way history can be seen and held and remembered for the good of man.

[JeremyLaymanPPD]

I've often thought about digging up a body for diamond rings

[Tracymmo]

My grandmother still talks about living on a Great Lakes ship in the early 20s when her father sailed. She'd be horrified to hear about this kind of wreck being disturbed.

[Crowflug]

Hopefully the officials at that "Museum" were criminally charged. That's just so sick to remove the ring off one of the crewmembers!

[ServeHaShem]

What a bunch of pigs. Would you dig up a corpse on land and remove a wedding band? What disrespect!

[transampete]

when these guys die lets look at their skulls and bones for the world to look at. what a disgrace.

[Armahx]

That was just wrong, and that guy just seemed a little to eager to grab that skull. Lookin for gold in the jaw eh buddy?

[Armahx]

Oh looky , a human skull , i'll just out of curiosity flip it around never mind i don't have the dexterity under water to handle it properly, oops hehe dropped it, ooooh is that a gold filling? theres gota be a gold filling here, no one will know...

[discoveryman]

Honestly i think the ring should be removed from the exibit and given to the family of the man who wore it.

most wives will always know their husbands wedding ring.....

now if the family chooses to put it on display thats their choice..no one elses.

[wesleytj]

don't fuckin take a god damn wedding ring, no dignity there.

[thomasuras]

looks like they could have saved that tennis shoe if they just chuck that shin bone aside

[tamib906]

These are some sick bastards! Historical Society, my tushka!

[2000Ajjet]

The people in this old film ARE A TOTAL EMBARRASMENT to maritime museums everywhere...Just to think I was going to visit this museum when I was there!!!

[p288]

Im from Michigan and ill tell you straight. What i see done in this video is disgusting. We take that shipwreck very seriously and to rob any grave for ones own gain is sick and disturbing. FYI the wreck is now a protected burial ground. No diving or exploring is allowed to or around the "Fitz" hope these divers go to hell!

[LOKISlog7]

This is outrageous!

[gadgetable64]

To disturb a ship wreck for the purpose of documenting or gathering evidence should not be frowned upon..Now gathering evidence for investigative reasons should be the only reason to disturb a wreck..taking artifacts in the course of investigating is understandable, however victims personal effects should have no bearing on investigating a wreck.. Yes ships that sink in Michigan waters do belong to the good people of Michigan, Not to some Ghoulish divers who want to keep or sell artifacts..

[DrBuzz0]

shipwrecks in the Great Lakes should be treated like in international waters - they're abandon property and therefore fair game. The dead sure as hell don't care!

What good does it do to leave artifacts in place to slowly corrode?

Where the hell does Michigan get off taking custody of all these wrecks? It's fairly far off their shores. It should be federally administered waters. This is ridiculous. The dead are dead. They don't care!

[FaerieLinn]

I think that removing objects is ok, but if there are many dead, then the wreck should be left alone (ie the titanic)

[MichiganTreasure]

Removing remains from shipwrecks is no different than removing remains from a car accident site or tragic fire location. They're all accident sites. Imagine leaving remains along side the road because removing them would be "grave robbing."

Man sees nothing wrong with removing the remains of the ancients in Egypt for display in museums but somehow those of the past few centuries are extra sacred! I say we have too many inconsistencies going here to make any real sense.

[zootube323]

that's disrespectful in the extreme. Any wreck diver worth his salt will immediately back off after finding human remains. A good example of integrity around this can be found in Shadow Divers. Richier Kohler found human remains on the U-Boat he was diving on, and immediately left for another section of the boat..

[prosniper31]

F*** you. return the ring to the family. PERIOD. Laws broken or not - makes no difference when you try to cross legality with morality. Which side of the fence do YOU sit on? Choose wisely - someday it could be you.

[prosniper31]

F*** you. return the ring to the family. PERIOD. Laws broken or not - makes no difference when you try to cross legality with morality. Which side of the fence do YOU sit on? Choose wisely - someday it could be you.

[hod05]

kinda disrespectful to be messing about with some ones skull

[pcsassy03]

This is ridiculous, leave the remains alone!!!

[MrAubery]

I say sell all the junk (and good stuff) and help support the families or descendants. Too many people keeping "collections" of STUFF that isn't useful or useful but never used. As if.. "WOW we've got a bow for a boat here, we're not using it for a boat, it will sit here until time indefinite" OR "Look at this old barrel, this is what an old barrel used to look like". Pictures would suffice. Through all history, humans haven't had collections to this extreme until the last hundred or so years

[bnodurft]

The wedding ring was illegally removed from the Superior City's wreck in 1983. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) seized the ring and other artifacts from the Superior City in a 1992 raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The DNR's Affidavit of Search Warrant is available via a link on the Maritime Artifact web page of whitefishpointwatch. The wedding ring is on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the State of Michigan.

[PRR5406]

The ring is in a museum. I don't see how leaving it on the wreck benefits anyone. Leave emotion at the door. In my opinion, if Ballard had brought back one significant artifact from "Titanic" it would have satisfied everyone's "itch" to see the wreckage, and no further removal would have taken place. Seeing those artifacts, having fallen three miles to the seabed, with the wreck of the liner, is human history come full circle.

Salvage what you can without damaging the hulk.

[chazfensk]

They're dead who cares!

[chaostheoryfilms]

@chazfensk The main issue is the gentleman does not feel you should be able to salvage but it is okay for him to do so, and he is using political connections to facilitate this.

[Baldgol4]

What about removing mummies and artifacts from their tombs in Egypt or digging up Indian burial grounds. Same thing.

[MrKabDrivr]

Yep! 100% right! And what about those Inca mummies? Entire families dug out and exposed, no one said a thing... Why is right for them and wrong for others?

[BoyScout1960]

You know, where I come from, we call this sort of behavior Grave-Robbing, and the people who do it are called Ghouls! And that's JUST what happened here!

A disgraceful, shameful act!

[binoculord]

The wedding ring was given to the family,but that does NOT make it right.What are the laws on remains?I know the bottom is owned by the state.

[MrBurlingtonNorthern]

To me this is just wrong, who would want to bring back this pain by giving something so sacred? < spelling as a wedding ring...

to me this shit is wrong and sick, leave the wreck alone and stop tourchering people who lost someone that night.....

[step5732]

@binoculord It seems that the wedding ring is at the shipwreck museum. That is a little creepy. They don't know who the ring belonged to. I have been to the museum, don't remember seeing the ring. I don't know if it's still on display. Anyone know?

[DanOblacksmith]

What a bunch of shameless douchebags !!!

Creepy bastards.

What do they feel gives them the right ???

Nothing gets under my skin like a thief and I always felt thieves were among the worst of the worst but these assholes topped it. THEY STOLE A WEDDING BAND FROM A LOST SAILOR"S BONY FINGER !!!

God help the museum curator or egghead archaeologist that digs me up someday and picks at my remains- I WILL HAUNT THAT SON OF A BITCH UNTIL THE END OF TIME !!!

[Grak70]

So how long do you have to wait before a "sacred grave" becomes an "archaeological dig site"?

[oneshot555]

long enough for someone to buy a shovel and a snorkle.

[chaostheoryfilms]

Ask Bob Ballard,

After seeing the video of him asking about getting taconite from the Fitz to sell for souvies,,,this does not surprise me.

Dont get me wrong though, If I had a chance I would bring back stuff I would. Feel free to ask me more.

[ColinKraut]

It wasn't Bob Ballard, he leaves the ships alone that is why the French are raping the Titanic and calling Archeology. He didn't bring up one piece or artifact. Now he brings up an artifact from a wreck "Only one" as that is what is needed for maritime law to claim rights. So he gets the rights and leaves them in peace. But Bob (Robert) Ballard hasn't been to the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[chaostheoryfilms]

Bob Ballard has salvaged from wrecks, it's even in a book of his.

[bobbyo41078]

The lost lives of this wreck were shown complete disregard when that man decided to fumble around with human remains and then to add insult to injury, removed a persons wedding ring for a museum showcase. The dead deserve to rest after all they had been through going down with the ship.

[Scrap5000]

Well what the heck, they put it in the museum for all to see and marvel at as a piece of history, to be forever remembered. Not like he stole it and then sold it to a pawn shop for money.

[dromemaster7]

what they did was just the same as some one diging up a family member of someons, and taking their weding ring.

[Scrap5000]

Well, if that person died in something historic then I would not mind...

[balongaboy]

it sickens me

[cc92103]

That's why it's called REST IN PEACE....what a shameless act!

[vomit49894]

@cc92103 Agreed. This is just as bad as graverobbing. Unbelievable that anyone would do something like this!

[Manongjojo]

I dont know if the great lakes falls under international maritime laws. But if that was in the ocean they would have to seek permision from the country the ship was flagged under to disturb the ship if there was human remains found in the wreck. So there could be laws broken if they did this in recent days.

[JayC905]

This is the paradox of archaeology. As a professional archaeologist, here's my 2cents. Since these sites, by their nature, can not be protected, I think it's essential that legitimate research organizations like historical soc. or university archaeology depts get in and do an emergency excavation.

The truth is, you have as much chance of properly protecting a Gr. Lakes wreck site as you do stopping an interstate off-ramp from destroying a 5000 year old Indian village site. IMPOSSIBLE!

[BrownDavidson]

This is absolutely ghastly. To take a wedding ring off of a dead sailor is the height of disrespect and ignorance. This video is correctly labeled "Grave Robbers of the Great Lakes". The fact that the Superior City sank in 1920 should make no difference.

[bobbyo41078]

BrownDavidson I agree with your comments 100%! This man discovered these human remains, ok fine. Leave them untouched where you found them and let them rest in peace. After the horror of sinking on a ship, they deserve so much more respect than given. To pick the bones up and play with them and then to desecrate their memories even further by removing a wedding band, is outrageous! Family members and law enforcement alike should be doing something about this.

[bnodurft]

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society wants it both ways. Here they are filming and disturbing a grave site but they are the same group who led the attack on the leader of Expedition 94 that filmed a crew member's body at the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Shipwreck Society later went on to disturb the Fitzgerald's wreck site. For more on this debate, see the You Tube videos: Expedition 94: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald & Operation Taconite on the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[countryboy44555]

Same could be said about the Titanic It too is a grave site...

[palmerstationdesk]

What a bunch of baloney. The crew are DEAD. They are either living an afterlife or they are on oblivion following annihalation of their existence. How is it disrespectful to move around calcium sticks/fragments? Exactly what "happens" to anyone when their remains are "disturbed"? THINK, people. And yes, I feel the same way about the "remains" of my own family. But, I bet the replies will be "that's fine for you," even though if I wanted my family treated differently you'd say "See, it's not ok!

[chessbuff]

these guys have no respect.

[hockeyfreak350]

sick bastards

[devilnuts09]

Any ship that has gone down should be considered a grave site, and undisturbed. If you want to film it, fine, but have enough decency to leave the wreck the way you found it.

[LampreyStaghelm]

WTF. Its not like they killed the guy then took the ring. They do that shit at Titanic whenever they dive down there. Quit bitching its archaeology.

[kermet12345]

they should be minisculy decent and find the widow , give her the ring, and apologize for disturbing their remains, not put it up for all the on lookers and rubber neckers to "oooooo" Ahhhhhhh" at it.

[supershy13079]

Words cannot express how WRONG that was to even touch the remains of those who lost their lives, much less take things from them. What if that was your mother or father would you want someone doing that ? I doubt it. What was taken should be returned where it belongs. After what they went through, gasping for breath as their boat went down and the fear they had knowing they were going to die. And this is how you treat them. Fucking assholes!

[ihatestupidsignups]

Find the WIDOW? Of a 1920 SHIPWRECK????? And what? DIg her up and bury her with it? It gives a human face to the tragedy, and everyone who knew this nameless sailor is dead and gone. How long is ENOUGH? When does it cease being "desecration" and become archeology?

[kmitchell87]

This is so fucking wrong, how could you do such a thing...bastards

[Dakotawolf65]

Listen closely to 2:57-3:15. He states this is considered a natural grave site and removal of human remains would be illegal. Therefore if it's considered a gravesite, removal of jewelry from human remains can only labeled as grave robbing as far as I'm concerned..

[morbidonestrikes]

What I don't understand is why they don't bring these bodies home and bury them...It's like a sick joke...They can get to the bodies, they can take a fucking ring off the finger of this poor dead man who died in agony, but they can't bring them up and bury them??? This is fucked...

[KingOfTheClutch]

I agree with you, it's a disrepectful action to do what they have done, but to answer your question regarding the burial, I was born into a boating family, 8 of my family members joined the Navy, of course I joined the marines, when a Sailor goes down qith the ship the final resting place of that ship is thereby the final resting place for the crew, it IS possible (if the family wishes) to have the body brought up for proper burial however.

[GuiltyTillUrInnocent]

You know, this goes beyond "legal" or "Illegal". How about "moral"? They took the wedding band of a dead sailor off of his bones to be displayed in a museum. There is a special place in hell for grave robbers.

[germainiac666]

picks up skull (puke)

[purrkiti]

You just robbed a grave. Hope you can sleep at night. I wouldn't be able to. This is disgusting and TOTALLY wrong.

[MSUSpartanFootball]

What som people fail to realize is that as recently was the 70's- early 80's it was not illegal to remove items from shipwrecks. If you look at the quality of the footage you can tell its old. Chances are Tom Farnquist and his team broke no laws when this footage was taken.

Believe me, there are for worse people that you need to worry about when it comes to robbing Great Lakes shipwrecks.

[bnodurft]

This film documenting illegal acts was done by Farnquist & the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1983. Michigan's Aboriginal Records & Antiquities Act was adopted in 1980 to prohibit the removal, alteration, or destruction of property in the vicinity of abandoned shipwrecks. See the "Maritime Artifact" page on the whitefishpointwatch website for a link to the search warrant of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum for seizure of artifacts from the wreck of the Superior City.

[drpjd44]

@MSUSpartanFootball Your logic means a lesser crime is not a crime if there others are committing more atrocious crimes. Thank you bnoduft for your postings so people can understand what is really going on with these Great Lakes ship wreck sights. I don't understand how Mr. Farnquist continued to operate "above the law".

[wallocker24]

@MSUSpartanFootball I agree 100%

[katails2008]

Fuck you, this is like grave-robbing. Totally wrong!!!! if you had an emotional relation to this you'd think defferent too.

[stingynina]

People have become so immune to feelings. What if this had been a relative of theirs and someone went digging around in their grave? They'd have a fit. Leave these souls lie in peace. No one has or should have the right to disturb these underwater graves.

[Speeddemon3]

Has anyone verified this? Has anyone seen any of these private belongings in a museum? I just want verification not a bunch of people disagreeing that this shouldn't happen, if this is the case we do need to boycott this behaviour. If this is the wreck of the Fitz, the only known item raised was the bell. No one is allowed to dive the site PERIOD!

I was a so-so supporter of the bell being raised as an item to never forget her, but leave it alone to patrol Superior with her crew!

[bnodurft]

This is real footage of a dive to the wreck of the Superior City. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources raided the Shipwreck Museum for artifacts illegally removed from shipwrecks. The search warrant can be viewed via the "Martime Artifact" page on the website whitefishpointwatch.

To see illegal activity on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, see the You Tube video, "Operation Taconite on the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

[Speeddemon3]

Thx for your replies so quick!

Well certainly no offence to anyone who read my message but now that I have an answer I feel rather ill. That's plain horrible..it's just wrong on so many levels.

[snorky500]

To see these people pick up a skull, let alone take souviners... I support real scientific exporation of old wrecks like the Titanic which have historical value, but now, after seeing this, I am not so sure.

[50Cent507]

those... motherfuckers.... THATS DISRESPECT TO THE DEAD YO WHEN YOU GUYS DIE IMA FIND UR GRAVE AND IMA STEAL THE SHIT OFF UR BODIES LIKE RINGS AND JEWELRY AND IMA PISS ON YO COLD DICEASED BODIES HOW ABOUT DAT U GRAVE ROBBIN PRICKS!

[Speeddemon3]

Who are you? Jar Jar Binks? Speak properly!

[631959]

Dear God in Heaven what has man become when they even find pleasure in defying a grave site!I just can't believe that people would allow hemselves to take part in such a thing,knowing full well what they are doing is WRONG!!God forgive us as your creation.

[jwri1981]

this is shocking...really nothing shocks me....but i stand corrected, this does and it is sick..

[javajava489]

wow, this is one of the most terrifying videos I have ever seen on youtube. good job calling out these thieves though.

[MrKabDrivr]

Most terrifying? You're kidding, right? Or it was the only YT vid you'd seen when you wrote this comment! 'Cause there are vids, here, about actual people being killed by their fellow humans, some old ladies beaten by thugs for a few bucks, crowds of pacific protesters being repressed by armed police, scenes of hunger, disasters, inhumanity beyond belief and you call this "most terrifying vid on YT"??? Good grief! Try to put some measure in your comments, friend...

[javajava489]

Wow, you are so smart. I had no idea that bad things happened on youtube besides this video. It is amazing that you know these things. Your insight into the scale of terror is priceless. Thank you for broadening my horizons. You are so great. Your penetrating insight is valuable to me. You are very unique and special, a gift to the world. I will begin very seriously considering my youtube comments and ensure that they are accurate, because that is important. You are very important.

[MrKabDrivr]

Wow!... All these empty words to basically say nothing... I was merely pointing out that your comment was exagerated... So is your reply... Good day...

[dodgekickzass]

i believe that people would take stuff from it but not many people know where it is at except the people who found it in the first place

[chessbuff]

their deaths did not mean that now other people and take things they owned even after many years. i think that's grave robbery.

[jabathehutt5555]

the edmond fitz jerald sunk in canadian teratory oh the grate lakes

[joeschmo322]

First, after reviewing the video. they did not remove the ring from the finger. In other words the did not pull it off of a finger like you would pull a ring off of your own finger. They found it in the vicinity of the finger bones.

Second, this is no different then any other archaeological collection from any site where human remains are. This has been done for thousands of years. Without it we would not know anything about most ancient cultures.

[bnodurft]

First, I personally know the diver shown removing the ring from the finger bones, so you either don't know what you are talking about or you are trying to plant disinformation.

Second, this activity was a violation of Michigan's Aboriginal Records & Antiquities Act. The Affidavit of Search Warrant & Report of when the DNR raided the Shipwreck Society for shipwreck theft can be viewed on the "Maritime Artifacts" page of the whitefishpointwatch website.

[moparmonster1965]

How fucking disrespectful.

[ezymk69]

Put that ring back on that finger!

[bnodurft]

The Michigan DNR Affidavit & Search Warrant & Investigation Report of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and the Shipwreck Museum states that at the same time as the ring was removed from a finger bone on the wreck of Superior City "... Farnquist removed some of the bones to the surface, where they were photographed, and returned to the wreck several days later." The entire report can be viewed through a link on the Whitefish Point Watch "Maritme Artifact" web page.

[whittiejp]

Thats sick !!

[dieselman1988]

they did not take any remains as far as i now but the the state of michagn does have a wedding ring form the wreck the only way to get that is from some one's remains

[SDB1958]

It sank November 10th 1975!!!!

[chhmcom]

There are too many people trying to fetch money off of the tragedy of various ship wrecks. My personal favorite is the battle between the Odyssey Corporation & Spain.

[TheSouthernGentleman]

When did this ship sink?

[bnodurft]

August 20, 1920

[boats752]

learn how to spell

[shiba4inus]

this is a prity good show i would like the song with it instead.

[alexalexander55]

This is an outrage! Not only do they disturb the remains and show them to the camera, but they took a wedding band?!? I honestly had no idea the GLSHS -or any historical society would dare do something as sacrilegious as what I have seen today. Disgusting, truly disgusting.

[TheSouthernGentleman]

Well what were they supposed to do? Leave it at the bottom of the lake?!

[bigskyrambler]

Yes. Absolutely. You want your Mom's wedding ring dug up and displayed in a hundred years?

[kazthebastard]

Yes, that's EXACTLY what they should have done.

[kazthebastard]

Well said, they should be shut down for desecrating the resting place of the men that died on the E.F.

[gooup]

This is the Superior City, not the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[lizard944]

HAHAHA You fools. That's not the Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald is in almost 600ft of water and this diver is in conventional high dive equipment, good for about 150ft MAX. 600ft they would be crushed to death. They invented a special suit called a "Newt Suit" in order to dive this. It basically looks like a space suit with a large diving bell helmet. They did take a few taconite pellets, but to date, no human remains have been found.

I'm against diving this site, but this is BS!

[thehoeser]

You are correct, this is not the Fitzgerald, but you are also an idiot. There are a number of people who have dove to 600ft and beyond wearing "conventional" dive gear. The world record SCUBA dive depth is over 1000ft in a simple drysuit. Do some research before you make an ass of yourself.

[darwinfoto09]

Recreational dive limits are about 140 feet. You have to use special gas mixtures and have a vast logisitical entrouage to help with you dive and decompression. Nitrogen starts to become rather toxic beyond those depths and you start literally becoming drunk from the air you breath. The 33' martini rule. Every 33' of depth or 1 atmosphere of pressure is like drinkin a martini. I think everyone who ever made it to 1000ft on plain air died...

[darwinfoto09]

Thats not true, in fact the current depth record from conventional scuba (though using very special gas mixtures, and specialized dive profiles) is 318 meters (1040feet). As a matter of fact Richard Pyle kinda pioneered deep diving. His team regular dove around 400 feet using closed curcuit rebreathers finding new species of fish.

[USSManhattan]

...they just... fooled around like that with the remains?

J****s.

[beatles101462]

shame on these people ..no excuse its grave robbing no matter how they display it

[kidstl]

like who give a sh1t, thanks to busch with the high price of gas, i take anything i could get, check book, credit card, money, rings,rolexs anything i could pawn !

[newmommy81807]

it is just sick and wrong this is a gravesite how would you like it if i removed your wedding band after you have passed it's just not right and morally wrong

[Janisfan66]

Someone should remove his nuts and see how he feels about loosing those! Total disrespect! Somone should dig up his grave and scatter his bones into several dumpsters!

This is a national gravesite!!!

[UK243]

Are those human remains never been solved by any authority of somthing else?

[bnodurft]

You can read the Michigan Department Of Natural Resources Affidavit and Search Warrant/Investigation Report on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society on the You Tube video, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Historical Documents". The human bones from the wreck of the Superior City are discussed in these documents.

[dmir406]

Did they legally do what they did?

[ssrc30]

This is the worst excuse i have ever seen for robbing the graves of the dead. Obviously these people have NO respect AT ALL for either the men/women who rest in this sacred site, nor for the families of these sailors who gave their lives doing a job that most of us would never think of doing. I think these jokers should be charged for what they have done and be put to justice. What a disgrace.

[LakeDiver]

I've talked to friends that dove up in the area and this doesn't suprise anyone. The general feeling is he uses the museum as an excuse to remove what he wants.

[xcaliber69]

did I hear Farnquist just say it would be immoral and illegal to remove bones from the grave site?

then why did he take those bones back to his museum? He then got "creeped out" and took the bones back to the wreck in a pail... and then, just dumped them over the side without regaurd for where they ended up on the bottom.

[Adolia]

Oh my God... These people seriously have to be put to justice. Have the families been notified of this??

[SomemillinWISC]

Where do you draw the line between archeology

and Grave Robbing? I guess unless it's a personal

relationship to the tragedy, these sites will not be

respected. how sad...

[canadiantimberwolf1]

What a Preservation Organisation in thier right mind would do that.Take away a wedding band from a corpse.I think I will send them a letter.

[uncleavi2002]

You are one fucked up piece of shit to do that. As someone who grew up in this area I tell you that you should go to jail for that.

[FirebirdNerd]

what an ass

[TK42100]

Sick...

[Himdarling44]

First of all, every diver knows your supposed to leave skeletons as they lie. No touching, nothing, nada. Second isn't it illegal to remove ANYTHING from a Great Lakes Shipwreck. Read Shadow Divers, even though it could have solved the mystery of U-WHO, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler never touched the remains. Richie accidently picked up a bone but placed it back exactly how he had found it, and he also done every thing in his power to avoid this.

[cavdragoon]

there is no excuse for this type of thing. This is no different than diging up someones grave and robbing it.

[TheMinstrelOfTheDawn]

I was a member of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (Tom Farnquist's organization) for years. I had never really thought about it until recently. His museum is pretty morbid. I mean, he's making a HUGE profit from the people's deaths (most noteably, the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald). I have since ended my membership.

[Mowac]

I visited the G.L.S.H. museum a few years back and I wasn't aware of this side of Farnquist organization at all. It's piracy at the exploration level. I could understand if it was just lying on the bottom in plain view. But to physically remove a wedding ring from a dead sailors hand is just plain wrong.

[bombalu5]

that just seems wrong somehow..

[LeoAmes]

Creeps don't get much creepier than Tom Farmquist

[bnodurft]

Are you a diver?

[xcaliber69]

Also... I'd just like to go on the record... The families of the Fitzgerald Crew did not know of Farnquist's shady and dark past! If we had.... we never would have allowed him to have anything to do with the bell recovery.

He is one sick individual!!!!

[xcaliber69]

Didn't he wear that ring to parties and pass it around and say "feel the history". And say that it "talks" to him??? what a sick individual!

[alltattoodiwantubad]

It's not like they kept it for themselves it's in the museum

[kollin14]

I enjoy how they're all, OH we won't be disturbing the bones, BUT wait a minute heres a gold wedding band lets take it! I thought grave robbing was illegal in the U.S.

[ollowert]

I don't think he will be needing it. Will you be buried with a six pack and a bag of pork rinds?? You won't need them really.