((PKG)) NORTH CAROLINA SHIPWRECKS
((TRT: 7:24))
((Topic Banner: North Carolina Shipwrecks))
((Reporter/Producer/Camera/Editor: Genia Dulot)) 
((Map: Beaufort, North Carolina))
((Main characters: 3 male; 1 female))
((BLURB: Shipwrecks sunk by Nazi U-Boats are transformed into artificial reefs off the US Coast, which are now a home for sharks and an invigorating place for divers to visit.))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Dean Anderson
Captain, Outrageous V))
Good morning, everyone. I am Dean, your captain. Our crew members are Damon back here and Daniel right here.
We have a lot of World War II wrecks. We have a German U-boat off our coast that we dive regularly. We have a one World War I wreck, and we have a lot of World War II wrecks out here.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Joseph Schwarzer
Director, North Carolina Maritime Museums))
When the United States entered the war in December of 1941, admiral Karl Dönitz, who was in charge of the U-Boats for Nazi Germany, in the first months of 1942. And he sent 14 U-Boats immediately to the coast, the East Coast of the United States. And they had remarkable luck in sinking allied ships, more than 78 ships in the first six months of 1942.
((NATS))
((Dean Anderson
Captain, Outrageous V))
You ready, Doug? All righty. Enjoy your dive. Watch your air. Watch your bottom time.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Debby Boyce
Chair, East Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
Even though there’s a lot of cultural history with the wrecks that are out there, the fact that they have such a huge environmental impact, they’re just little ecosystems on the bottom of the basically sand bottom ocean. And so, it’s made a huge difference in the amount of marine life that had been out there.
((Hal Wells
Diver))
When you go out there and you just see what the sea life, you know, it’s taken over these wrecks. The shipwrecks provide a safe home and it’s, even though they’re artificial reefs, they are reefs.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Hal Wells
Diver))
When you see a sand tiger shark swimming around the wreck, it’s because it’s mating with other sharks or it’s looking for food near that wrecks. They have somewhere to hide. These sharks are just as vulnerable as a lot of the other fish in the food chain. If they’re swimming out in the open ocean all the time, that means a bigger predator can come in and, you know, these sharks grow to be about 10 [3 meters] or 11 feet [3.4 meters] max. Imagine some of the great whites. There are great whites patrolling out here as well. And they are probably praying on these sand tiger sharks we see on the wrecks.
((Dean Anderson
Captain, Outrageous V))
There is a lot of people that don’t get to see what we get to see. It’s just interesting. Very interesting. I’ve seen a lot of the wrecks, you know, over the years that I’ve been diving, just deteriorate really bad.
((NATS))
((Dean Anderson
Captain, Outrageous V))
All right, everyone. We are on the stern of the “Indra” for right now. It’s about 328 feet [100 meters] long. It was sunk in 1992. It served in Vietnam. It was a boat tender and a base. Okay, we have it sunk as an artificial reef.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Debby Boyce
Chair, Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
There’s really not anything we can do to stop deterioration of the wrecks that are already there. We are always in the process of trying to create new habitat out there. We’ve got a non-profit that we’ve set up, which is the Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association. Through that organization, we try to work with the local marine fisheries and sink reefs that are offshore.
((Debby Boyce
Chair, Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
Of the wrecks that are out there, we’ve already had our hand in probably 15 to 20 of the artificial reefs. And we are trying to keep replenishing that whole thing. They won’t have this historical significance that some of the World War II wrecks have, but as far as the overall quality of the environment, they will have an impact. That gives just more area [for] corals and stuff like that to grow on, which then starts the whole food chain of things going on.
((Debby Boyce
Chair, Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
The whole fishing industry depends on the fact that there’s fish out there in places that you can go, that the fish will be concentrated, and the commercial fishing industry, same things.
And, of course, that affects tourism, having people be able to come in to go do all these different things. So, it’s significant.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Hal Wells
Diver))
Sharks don’t really harm divers. The safety aspect for divers would be - keep your eyes open. If a larger shark comes in, say maybe like a tiger shark or great white, you definitely want to make eye contact with these sharks. They’ll stay at their distance. Again, you have bubbles coming out of your face. They know you are not food but they might be curious. So, is it safe to dive with sharks out here? I say, absolutely. And I live in Los Angeles. So, is it safe to go underwater and be with sharks? Well, there’s no switchblades down there.
There’s no pistols or there’s no rifles. I think it’s safer to dive with sharks than to live in a giant city with, you know, certain types of people walking around who want to take advantage. I think diving with sharks is just as safe as any other kind of diving, really.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Debby Boyce
Chair, Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
The biggest thing is raising money, to be able to get the money to be able to sink it. It can cost $500,000 to a million dollars to sink a wreck. And most of that is the cleaning of the wrecks. But even if you can get wrecks donated, it can cost four – five hundred thousand dollars to get it cleaned, to be acceptable to be sunk as artificial reefs. That’s a major setback as far as reefs go.
((Debby Boyce
Chair, Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association))
We’ve always find that ironic that if somebody’s boat just accidentally sinks, nothing happens and nothing’s cleaned. But we try to put one out there for the good of everybody, and you have to spend like a gazillion dollars.
One reef sunk will last, you know, 50-100 years. Costs money the first time to put it down, but then there’s no expense left. And so, to be able to consistently put those down is important.
((NATS/MUSIC))