Diving Deeper into Wreck Diver Motivations and Attitudes

Abstract

Increased demand by dive tourists for high-quality underwater wreck sites requires managers to balance heritage conservation and tourism at these vulnerable sites to ensure quality diving experiences while protecting underwater cultural heritage. Integral to effective management is a comprehensive understanding of wreck diver characteristics, motivations, and attitudes. This paper reports the outcomes of an international survey of 724 wreck divers including demographics, dive experience, motivations to wreck dive and attitudes to underwater cultural heritage protection. Wreck divers are motivated to see historic shipwrecks, artefacts, and marine life. Most are generally supportive of management controls to protect underwater cultural heritage. Conceptual models of wreck divers’ motivations and attitudes were developed to illustrate nuanced complexities in motivations and attitudes, which can inform management strategies to support operational decisions and destination marketing.

Scuba diving tourism and the challenge of sustainability: evidence from an explorative study in North African-Mediterranean countries

“…The richness and variety of marine biodiversity increase the attractiveness of a scuba diving tourism destination, which represents the main motivation for a dive (Edney, 2012). A particularly prolific branch of research has explored divers' impacts on the natural environment (Nurbaidura et al, 2013;Hammerton, 2017;Giglio et al, 2015Giglio et al, , 2018Lucrezi et al, 2019Lucrezi et al, , 2021Edney et al, 2021), highlighting future implications for biodiversity and, consequently, the loss of the tourist destination's appeal (Musa and Dimmock, 2013). Nurbaidura et al (2013) examine the relationship between divers' specialisation and underwater behaviour, while Lucrezi et al (2019) investigate the influence of the divers' experiences on their perceptions of the environment's health.…”

Decolonising Environmental Risk Assessments of Potentially Polluting Wrecks: a Case Study of the Wreck of the USS Mississinewa in Ulithi Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia

“…As their steel hulls become increasingly corroded, they become more likely to release their contents. Wrecks are increasingly popular dive sites (Edney et al, 2021), so there is risk of interference by divers, some of whom take souvenirs, and whose bubbles can accelerate wreck corrosion (Edney, 2016).…”

“…Illegal salvors typically use 'smash and grab' techniques with no regard for environmental protection, which can result in uncontrolled releases of oil and toxic chemicals (Browne, 2019). For recreational divers, wrecks can be wonderful sites of history and marine life (Edney et al, 2021), but for those people living alongside potentially polluting wrecks, they are a threat to their food supply, income, and way of life.…”