AUTHOR: ZVONIMIR MEDVIDOVIĆ
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PHOTOS: WRECK HUNTERS ADRIATIC
Wreck Hunters in the Adriatic – Wreck Hunters Adriatic (WHA) –
One of the more notable presentations at the recently concluded First Croatian Diving Congress was given by members of Wreck Hunters Adriatic (WHA). Their work and the entire team was presented by their member as the "first among equals", Zoran Delibašić, a professional diver from Zagreb. These are true lovers of diving, maritime and aviation history, underwater archeology and adventure. The group was established on the initiative of a group of diving enthusiasts and amateur historians gathered in and around the ZG-SUB Diving Club from Zagreb several years ago. Their activities at the time resulted in numerous unique discoveries in the Adriatic Sea, several of which were declared protected cultural assets of the Republic of Croatia under a summery procedure. Their work and the closely related cooperation with state institutions responsible for the protection of sunken cultural heritage surpassed itself in a few years and this diving initiative has grown into a platform, that is, a branded project.
There are numerous sites in the Adriatic that serve as destinations for 'wreck diving', tourist or technical diving on sunken ships or crashed airplanes located there. However, the activities and intentions of this group are not related to already known wrecks that are exploited by diving centers and that are described in Adriatic diving guides, rather to those that are mostly unknown to the general public, and some are partially or completely unknown to the professional public. These are all those wrecks whose stories have yet to be told, and for them it is a real "wreck hunting". This is where their sonorous name came from, by which they want to become known to the public. So far, such a search for wrecks has been carried out by rare individuals, and rarely or almost no one in an organized and systematic manner. Their mission is to search for and discover the hitherto undiscovered or underserved diving community, as well as all other interested subjects with their work and future intentions. Zoran and his five friends: Mislav Podnar, Dragutin Šimatović, Marko Hranilović, Damir Mlinarić and Jerko Macura are proven successful individuals in their areas of diving activities that they engage in in their profession, from underwater photography, commercial and saturation diving, to archaeological research dives.
Experienced divers
Each of the team members has been diving for at least 20 years, and all of the team are also external collaborators of the Department of Underwater Archeology of the Croatian Restoration Institute under the leadership of Igor Miholjek. In addition to the Croatian Restoration Institute, their past and future partners in the protection of sunken cultural heritage are the Ministry of Culture and investigated underwater wrecks of ships and planes, the discovery of historical and life stories related to the sinking of the same
THE WORK OF WHA MEMBERS AND THE CLOSE COOPERATION WITH STATE INSTITUTIONS HAS TRANSCENDED ITSELF, SO THIS DIVING INITIATIVE HAS GROWN INTO A PLATFORM - A BRAND IN ITSELF
Popularization of adventure diving
Their vision is the popularization of adventure diving, underwater research and maritime history, along with the inevitable preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Adriatic. The focus of their research is only the Adriatic Sea, especially its eastern side. They formed their own ethical principles that they adhered to in their previous work as well, and they include the timely notification of competent institutions that are responsible for the protection of sunken cultural heritage, respect for the reverence of victims of suffering at sea, and determination of real facts and the historical context of underwater sites and locations. The guys from this team think they are different because they intend to share the process of their future information gathering, research, travel and search with the public through videos, photos, in-interviews and comments on their website www.wreckhunters.eu.
ALL MEMBERS OF WRECK HUNTERS ADRIATICA ARE LONG-TERM TECHNICAL DIVERS, AND MOST OF THEM ARE TRAINED REBREATHER DIVERS
Their intention is to conduct authentic "storytelling", that is, to find and tell the "story behind the story" about the wrecks in the sea, the real participants, their life stories and destinies in a historical context. The team members are open to diving novelties and technologies. All of them are long-term technical divers, and most of them are also trained rebreather divers. The advance towards new technologies has allowed them to access, even fifteen years ago, "untouchable" and "too deep" lo-qualities whose stories have yet to be told. According to their preferences, they divided roles among themselves in "wreck hunting" that guarantee success in future underwater discoveries.
WHA'S VISION IS THE POPULARIZATION OF ADVENTURE DIVING, UNDERWATER RESEARCH AND MARITIME HISTORY WITH THE ESSENTIAL PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE ADRIATIC
Certain challenges await them on their way, of which financing is only one of them. Of course, such discoveries and ventures have their high financial cost, so one of the goals of WHA branding is precisely to attract future sponsors who will be able to recognize their marketing potential in their work and discoveries. The technical limitations and risks of diving, the presentation of the tourist potential and the work to popularize diving beyond the limits of sports and recreational diving are also challenges that these lovers of underwater wrecks will face. Their wish is that their work will also result in certain benefits for diving and diving tourism in the Republic of Croatia. By this, they primarily mean the establishment of a central information point for all foreign tourists and organizers, as well as a base for exchanging information/resources of local diving centers with adequate technical support and counseling as needed.
WHA'S INTENT IS TO FIND AND TELL THE "STORY BEHIND THE STORY" ABOUT THE WRECKS IN THE UNDER-SEA, THE ACTUAL PARTICIPANTS, THEIR LIFE STORIES AND FATE IN A HISTORICAL CONTEXT
In this issue of SCUBAlife, Wreck Hunters Adriatic reveal a new story about the discovery of a wreckage of an Allied bomber found at the bottom of the sea near the island of Unije near Lošinj. If this corona - scourge does not prevent them from doing so, the WHA promises that they will soon have several sensational discoveries and announcements that will once again shake the Croatian, but also the world public!
