Free Republic

DULUTH -- Some divers view shipwrecks merely as interesting attractions, something to see and -- sometimes -- plunder. The interests of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society divers go deeper. Since 1996, the society has worked quietly to discover, document, protect and restore the region's shipwrecks. "Everything I can say about them is good," said Scott Anfinson, Minnesota state archaeologist and co-author of "Beneath Minnesota Waters: Minnesota's Submerged Cultural Resources Preservation Plan," of the society's members. "In some ways, they have done a better job than the historians and archaeologists and agencies in preserving shipwrecks in Lake Superior. They should...

Anti-base activist Hiroshi Ashitomi is accusing a Naha Self Defense Force diver of turning off his air tank as he protested their underwater work at Henoko, site of the planned Futenma replacement airfield. A Self Defense Force official denies the incident ever happened, saying “No such thing happened. Our divers had very important work under water, and wanted to make repairs of damage caused by a typhoon. The diver reported to us everything he did underwater,” the spokesman said, “and according to his report, he did not close your diver’s tank. We believe our diver.” “You did!” That’s Ashitomi’s response....

FORT EUSTIS, Va. - Soldiers from the 97th Transportation Company recently returned from an unconventional mission - recovering thousands of tires from off the Florida coast in an effort to dismantle the world's largest man-made reef. The 15 Soldiers spent two and a half months off the Florida coast, conducting training operations for dive teams. They then traveled down coast to Fort Lauderdale, where they began a historic effort in environmental preservation. "In 1972, a number of organizations with good intentions dropped about two million tires in the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to build the world's largest man-made reef,"...

"guampdn.com material cannot be posted due to copyright complaint." So... Link here.

The U.S. Embassy in Greece says DNA tests have identified the remains of three American divers missing since 1978 while exploring underwater caves. Two of the divers will be buried in Minnesota, where their parents are from. The remains of U.S. Air Force Sergeant Donald Michaud - along with 20-year-old Airman Jan Granroth and her 21-year-old brother Mark Granroth - were identified after extensive DNA analysis by the Department of Defense Armed Forces Medical Examiner. Funerals for the Granroths are scheduled for August fourth in Sebeka, about 45 miles northwest of Brainerd. Jan and Mark Granroth grew up in Sacramento....