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From Indrus

Reports of treasure-trove discoveries appear in the Russian media about twice a year.

With its vast territory and tumultuous history of war, pillage and sudden power shifts, Russia is hardly a surprising destination for flocks of treasure hunters.

Given the fact that Russia’s banking system developed relatively late and left people to bury valuables in the ground for safekeeping, Russia has become something of a treasure hunter’s paradise.

In reality, treasure is discovered in Russia much more frequently than the press would have us believe.

Current legislation, however, means that treasure hunters are generally better advised to keep quiet about their findings: any unearthed treasure must be equally divided between the finder and the landowner.

If the find is thought to contain items of “cultural or historical significance,” half of the appraised value goes to the state, while the finder can claim only half of the remaining 50 percent. 

Moreover, the treasure is often fraudulently appraised, so the finder really only receives a fraction of the real value.

Of course, this is not just about the money.

Treasure hunters believe in fairy-tales, and, in their minds, they are never far from discovering a legendary find.  RBTH details the 12 most sought-after treasure-troves in Russia.

By Shaheryar Mirza - Tribune

Karachi remains a city by the sea when it could be so much more – only if it became one with the sea.

The neglect that the city’s coast has suffered is highlighted by the fact that there isn’t a single pier with recreational facilities for the public.

In this atmosphere of apathy, Yousaf Ali has taken it upon himself to look after the coral reef near Churna Island, located off the coast of Mubarak Village, which is near the border of Sindh and Balochistan.

“Back in 1979, I was on my way to work when I heard an advertisement on the radio about scuba diving. I turned around at that moment and now I’ve been doing this for over 30 years,” said Ali, speaking at his office in the Karachi Scuba Diving Centre (KSBC).

Here, he teaches Karachi’ites as well as expatriates how to scuba dive and take care of the marine environment. He said that one reason why people don’t take part in water sports is because they have an “unknown fear of the ocean and water.”

Many people take a dip during the monsoon season when the sea is inhospitable and swimmers encounter mishaps.

This makes the public perceive the open water as a dangerous space. Another reason why scuba diving hasn’t taken off in Pakistan is because it is expensive.

“People who can afford it aren’t interested and those who are interested [in scuba diving] can’t afford it,” said Ali, adding that expatriates are more interested in exploring the underwater world.

Full article...

By Randy Boswell - Canada

Maybe, just maybe, the 160-year dream of discovering one of the lost ships of the Franklin Expedition has already been realized, and the Parks Canada-led team that completed a month-long search last week just doesn’t know it yet.

That’s a slim but real possibility, acknowledges Parks Canada underwater archeologist Ryan Harris, who says a portion of the seabed data gathered during this summer’s high-profile probe of Arctic waters near King William Island still has to be examined for possible traces of HMS Erebus or HMS Terror, the two Royal Navy vessels commanded by Sir John Franklin that famously vanished during his search for the Northwest Passage in the late 1840s.

“It’s possible, because there actually is some AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) data that I haven’t looked at yet, and there is some multi-beam sonar data,” said Harris, who led the Canadian government’s renewed hunt for the ships.

“There were areas of the ocean that were really shallow north of the Royal Geographical Society Islands, so we have a small path that was done with multi-beam because it would have been a bit tricky to tow a side-scan sonar system in those shallow waters,” Harris told Postmedia News.

“And that data has to be post-processed at a very high resolution to identify targets in the shallow waters.

 
Photo Mark Kolbe

By Jill Langlois - Global Post
 

A new report from the Federal University of Pernambuco and Brazil's Environment Ministry says the South American country has lost 80 percent of its coral reef in just the past 50 years.

According to EFE, the report blames abusive extraction and pollution from urban and industrial resources, as well as excessive fishing, for the destruction of the reef.

"Until the 1980s, there was much extraction to make lime in the country," said Professor Beatrice Padovani, who collected data since 2002 with her research group, EFE reported.

Padovani also noted that domestic, industrial and farm pollution were factors in creating sediment accumulation that has destroyed the reef systems.

Full article...

From Associated Press

Deep sea exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration said Tuesday that the recovery operation on two shipwrecks in the North Atlantic is being delayed because of bad weather and other commitments.

Shares of Odyssey fell 69 cents, or 18.7 percent, to $3 in afternoon trading on very heavy volume. That was a recovery from a low of $2.51 hit earlier in the session.

The company said the project is being delayed because of weather and because its Seabed Worker ship is committed to another charter.

Odyssey will resume work on the SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola in the second quarter of 2013.

Odyssey said it has recovered about 1,200 silver bars from the Gairsoppa, which is worth about $44 million based on current silver prices. The company said the find will add $26 million to its net income in 2012.

The Gairsoppa sunk in 1941 after it was hit by a German U-boat about 300 miles off the coast of Ireland.

The wreck is more than 15,000 below the surface and Odyssey said earlier this year that it had already recovered 48 million tons of silver from the wreck, making it heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals ever taken from a shipwreck.

Odyssey said has searched about 70 percent of the holds and compartments on the Gairsoppa that were suitable for transporting silver. It believes 1,600 bars and other uninsured silver are still in the shipwreck and expects to finish its operation in 30 to 45 days after work resumes.

The company found the wreck of the Mantola while searching for the Gairsoppa, and said it has tested ship and equipment capabilities on the Mantola.

It will resume those operations after work on the Gairsoppa ends. The Mantola sank in 1917 after it was torpedoed by a German submarine. The wrecks of the Gairsoppa and Mantola are about 100 miles apart.

Odyssey shares have traded between $2.11 and $4.36 in the past 52 weeks. Tuesday's volume of more than 3.8 million shares was more than six times normal trading volume.

From Coin Week

Odyssey Marine Exploration, pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, announced that the company has received project approval and salvage contracts from ship owners for a major multi-year commodity shipwreck program with a potential total recovery value of more than $230 million based upon current commodity prices and related assumptions.

The company has negotiated salvage contracts with ship owners that will award 90% of the net recovered cargo value to Odyssey for four separate deep-ocean shipwrecks carrying valuable commodities when they sank.

There are additional valuable shipwrecks that do not require salvage agreements that can be added to the program and undertaken while Odyssey has a ship and equipment nearby.

Planning is underway to assemble the necessary ship and equipment for the recovery of these cargoes, which is targeted to begin as early as the second quarter of 2013.

Search operations are anticipated to be completed very quickly with the recovery vessel so operations can flow directly from confirmation to cargo recovery.

In addition, Odyssey has received an expression of interest from an investment group interest in providing non-dilutive funding to take the project to the stage where it will generate positive cash flow.

Odyssey will evaluate this proposal, other potential non-dilutive options, and the possibility of self-funding the operation to determine the best course of action for long-term shareholder value.

Full article...

By Becky Bauer - Allat Sea

When scuba divers reveal what they consider dream dives, many would say discovering a previously unknown wreck where they find an ancient Greek coin, a bar of Spanish silver or gold, an Etruscan jar, a Columbian emerald destined for royalty before a hurricane sank the ship, or a rare cannon once used by pirates after they appropriated it from the Royal Navy.

Only a very lucky few ever experience such dives due to the years required for researching ships’ records, obtaining permits, and funding often fruitless searches not to mention the secrecy required in those endeavors.

There are, however, multitudes of other wrecks throughout the world that bear their own wondrous treasures along with some danger.

The target of a wreck dive can be watercraft, aircraft, military equipment, and in the case of man-made bodies of fresh water, even the remains of churches, silos, barns, and homes.

There are two types of wreck diving.  The first is open water surveying of the exterior of wrecks which we address herein.

With a watchful dive master or instructor, even the most novice divers can participate in these dives.

The second type of wreck dive is known as penetration diving wherein divers enter the wrecks eliminating not only ambient light but also direct access to the surface. 

This type of wreck dive should unconditionally be considered technical diving and should never be attempted by divers who are not trained and certified for penetration diving by experts in the field.

Wrecks in place for several years are fantastic locations for finding marine life much like healthy reefs.

In fact, as more understanding is gained as to the critical importance of reefs in the survival of all marine life, the sinking of unwanted vessels to create artificial reefs has become an industry unto its own.

Sunken wrecks serve as nurseries for young animals as well as foundations for corals, sponges, and other incredibly interesting forms of marine life, often providing homes for creatures rarely seen otherwise.

On well-established wrecks, if one takes the time to truly observe, a microcosm of life in our oceans displays itself.

Prey and predator, from the smallest of juveniles to the top predators, inhabit these wrecks.

Full article...

By Lori Tobias - The Oregonian

The call to sub chaser SC-536 came at night on May 19, 1943. A patrol boat had made contact with at least one enemy submarine off the Oregon coast, but was out of depth charges.

With guidance from two Navy blimps, the crew on SC-536 headed out of Astoria to join the hunt. What happened in the coming hours is as clear to Robert Wood, now 93, as when it happened.

"The blimp sent us a message saying our charge had made a direct hit on the sub and sunk it," Wood recalled by telephone from his Tennessee home.

"We felt mighty honored that we had done that because that was our job, to try to find Japanese subs and sink them. We were a happy bunch of sailors."

But they were about to become a disappointed bunch of sailors. When the sub chaser's executive officer arrived in Seattle with Wood's typed report, the admiral insisted it never happened.

Now, a group of divers believes it's on the cusp of proving Wood's claim, with evidence of a sunken vessel in an undisclosed area off Cape Lookout.

They've got the images from an infrared camera, Wood's recently declassified original logs and personal stories that have persisted for decades.

"We missed putting divers on the wreck by 35 yards," said Kathleen Wallis, project manager for the Oregon Coast Project team.

"Between current and depth, they're not dropping straight down and not seeing anything because it is pitch black. We know there is room for error.

It could be a barge or a tug, but we also know something happened out there and it was labeled top secret by the government."

Full article...