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Investigating Scuba Divers’ Attitudes to Sustainable Shipwreck Diving in North Carolina. JP Duncan. Statement of the problem. Shipwrecks are easily damaged, non-renewable heritage sites. Why should we care about the preservation of shipwrecks?.
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Investigating Scuba Divers’ Attitudes to Sustainable Shipwreck Diving in North Carolina JP Duncan
Statement of the problem • Shipwrecks are easily damaged, non-renewable heritage sites
Why should we care about the preservation of shipwrecks? • Shipwrecks are easily damaged and non-renewable heritage sites with a certain “carrying capacity” • Heritage Australia (2013) • Scuba diving on shipwrecks has become a major component of global tourism that is significant to local economies • Edney (2012)
Literature review: What do we know about “sustainable practices” of shipwreck divers? • Cultural Resource Management • McKercher and du Cros (2002) • UNESCO (2007) • Diver Impacts on Shipwrecks • Muckelroy (1978) • Stone (1996) • McCarthy (2000) • Edney (2006) • Normative Theory • Jackson (1966) • Loomis et al. (2008) • Vaske et al. (2010)
Research Question • What are the attitudes of people scuba diving in the state of North Carolina (scuba divers being defined as people utilizing dive charters in the state of North Carolina) to human activities affecting the sustainability of submerged maritime archaeological sites?
Research Objectives The goal of this project is to determine how NC scuba divers define sustainable practices in shipwreck diving. The project has 2 specific objectives: • Determine how NC scuba divers define “sustainable practices” in relation to shipwreck diving • Define the role of geographical origin, gender, and other demographic variables in determining diver attitudes to sustainable practices in shipwreck diving
Methodology • Site selection • Data collection • Data analysis
Site Selection • Groups internal or connected to East Carolina University • NC Dive shops fromhttp://nc-wreckdiving.com/shops.html
Data Collection • Collect email addresses • Send initial emails with a survey link • Send a reminder email after one week • Send a final email after two weeks
Data Analysis • Divers will be examined by their responses • Embarrassment levels • Feelings of obligation • Create a graphical representation of the data • Mean Acceptance Rating and Potential for Conflict Index2
Work Plan • Timeline • Data collection • May and June • Analysis • July • Written Report • August
Conclusion Assessing NC shipwreck divers’ attitudes will lead to: • An understanding of the diver’s opinion of sustainable actions • Findings from this study are expected to make a contribution to understanding how to better mitigate anthropogenic impacts on shipwrecks • Recommendations of what shipwreck site managers can do to incorporate more sustainable actions by divers