These are complex issues. Fundamentally, they are not about respecting wrecks, but about respecting people. The best way to understand these issues is to look at real-life situations. Three of the projects with which I am involved provide some nifty examples of the dilemmas and moral issues facing divers today. They also explode many of the myths being expounded by non-diving journalists, lobbyists and politicians.
Relatives are anti-diver To pit the interests of divers against the interests of relatives is false.
Divers are as likely to have lost members of their families during wartime as the rest of the population. The Struma and HMS Exmouth projects are both led by people who lost family-members on those particular wrecks. On projects such as Bluebird, divers are working in co-operation with relatives. Diving a wreck can provide a focus, and a physical link between past and present which can be very valuable to many relatives. All relatives want wrecks left undisturbed Relatives are a diverse group, with a range of different interests and views.