Matthew: Perhaps your reading comprehension is not the best- I never mentioned having no respect for the people who died, 'though yes, I am utterly shameless about buying legally salvaged artifacts from the liner. Ironic that you should mention Dark Descent in this context. I have known Kevin McMurray for over ten years (a neighbor and customer of my video store) and he is not opposed to artifact recovery- in fact, at his last local speech he basically referred to it as harmless.
The moving of body parts to improve photo composition (which has happened 'though I am not certain if it has been done aboard the Empress) IS utterly wrong and disrespectful, and the harvesting of skulls (again, regrettably has happened, 'though not recently and I am not sure if aboard the Empress) loathesome, but since this thread was initially about artifacts being legally sold by a reputable dealer and not body tampering, your over the top bombast is not only misplaced but borderline libelous - you seem to be implying that Bart indulges in such practices. Did you also happen to notice that he is a recurring figure in....you guessed it...Dark Descent?
Continuing, if I were to dive to the Empress and discover a rotted corpse I'd certainly feel different about diving, but not artifact recovery, just as if I went desert hiking and found a rotted corpse, it might alter my opinion about hiking, but not my opinion on the legality of fossil gathering. In either case, one thing has nothing to do with the other. How would I feel if I were one of the divers who recovered corpses in 1914? At this point, doubtlessly I'd feel old....very old....which is generally how 108 year old men feel. Would it haunt your dreams and shatter your illusions if I told you that I know, from experience, that people engaged in body recovery are not above souvenier harvesting, and it is very likely that the 1914 Empress divers carried away small items themselves?
You've been asked, here and on another thread, to provide further detail regarding the sale of body parts from the Empress. I'm asking again- from where did you get that particular canard? I am being very specific, and asking only about the SALE of body parts, not removal. To whom, and by whom are they being sold? Where? When? Lots of reputable divers, (and 99% of the dive community is reputable) are quite curious.
