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It’s time to protect the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ off NC

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD
The World War II wreck of U-701 sits in approximately 110 feet of water in shifting sands and currents off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Efforts to declare the area, generally considered the only U.S. battlefield of World War II, has encountered sharp opposition from local residents who fear the designation will destroy its value as a commercial fishery.
The World War II wreck of U-701 sits in approximately 110 feet of water in shifting sands and currents off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Efforts to declare the area, generally considered the only U.S. battlefield of World War II, has encountered sharp opposition from local residents who fear the designation will destroy its value as a commercial fishery. NOAA TNS

In 1998, the daughter of a World War II veteran killed in a German U-boat attack off the coast of Cape Hatteras was shocked by what she found hanging in a Cape Hatteras dive shop: a bell from her father’s ship, an oil tanker, the SS Dixie Arrow. The daughter, Jean Revels, campaigned to establish a marine sanctuary respecting the lives lost and the wrecks of some 91 ships in that area, called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposes to expand the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary – it marks the site where the Civil War battleship USS Monitor went down – to include the World War II shipwrecks. It’s an overdue and worthwhile step and should be taken immediately.

Unfortunately, some North Carolina tourism officials and local residents are against the idea. They seem to fear that regulating the area, the waters above those ships, will hurt tourism (divers) and fishing.

Even if that were the case, this “graveyard” is for descendants and for history as well a sacred place.

Dare County’s Board of Commissioners is against the expansion, saying it could impede fishing and recreation and hurt tourism. But Tane Casserley, a marine archaeologist who is the research coordinator for the current sanctuary, told the McClatchy Washington Bureau that visitors could still dive and fish the area. But they won’t be able to dive for artifacts from the wrecks, which would amount to disrespecting a gravesite. That’s a fair and proper restriction. The sanctuary should be expanded.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "It’s time to protect the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ off NC."

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