Heritage markers vanish from Lake Superior shipwrecks

Two heritage markers have mysteriously vanished from shipwrecks in Lake Superior and the vice chair of the Superior chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks says disappearances like that sinkthe group's efforts to promote local dive tourism.

Richard Harvey told CBC, the two buoyswent missingin separate incidents from the sites of thePuckasaw and the Howard, two sunken vessels popular with divers.

They are among five markers that the group has placed over the past two summers to encourage diving in the region; they help divers locate wrecks and provide a place to moor their boats.

SOS can't be certain that anyone purposely tampered with the buoysHarvey said. But he noted fishers have previously removed temporary markers that were located neartheir favourite fishing spots.

"Our suspicion at this point is that it may have been a fisherman, not realizing the significance of what these are and just saying, 'Aw look at this. These guys have gone and put these out where I don't want them to be,' and not realizing that it actually is a federal offence to be tampering with them," Harvey said.

"The reason the fishing's so good is because fish like structure. They like underwater structure.... The best underwater structure you could have, of course, is a shipwreck," he added.

The goal now, Harvey said, is to educate people about the importance of leaving the markers in place.

It's a federal offence to remove a navigation aid, he said; it also violates the provincial Heritage Act.

What's more, he added, replacing the markers is costly.

Buying and shipping them costs about $1,500 per buoy, he said.

Some of that money comes from donations. Some comes from municipalities, including the City of Thunder Bay.

Markers helped generate more than 20K in economic activity

Volunteers must then invest time to go out on the water to replace them.

Lost buoys also meanlost tourism dollars, Harvey said. Last year, Thunder Bay Tourism estimated the first two markers SOS placed in the lake generated between $20,000 and $30,000 in economic activity for the city, he said.

SOS has replaced both of the missing buoys and recovered one of them.

It's also adjusting the rigging to make it harder for people to detach them, Harvey said.

One marker is still missing. Anybody with information about its whereabouts is asked to contact the organization.