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Dave Fox with a telescope from the wreck of the JOHN & PHOEBE , which sank in 1806
Wight Stuff
Martin Pritchard and Dave Fox are the wreck detectives behind a series of South Coast discoveries , including two newly protected wrecks off the Isle of Wight
Martin Pritchard with a large stone cannonball from the NW96 site , recovered for stone analysis
Historic England recently announced that two highly significant historic shipwrecks off the Isle of Wight have been awarded the highest level of legal protection under The Protection of Wrecks Act of 1973 . This designation makes it a criminal offence to disturb or remove any items from the wreck sites or the surrounding areas . It will also ensure that any vessels dredging the seabed will have to avoid the areas and that any underwater diving activities will be limited to those licensed by Historic England .
The wreck sites lie on the edge of the Needles Channel and were discovered by two Isle of Wight shipwreck explorers , Martin Pritchard and Dave Fox . The two friends have been discovering , exploring and researching local shipwreck sites for more than 40 years . Both are members of BSAC branch 1447 Wight Diving .
The first wreck Martin and Dave located is known by its record number – NW68 . They discovered it in 2018 , as Martin recalls : “ We had been carrying out an electronic seabed survey in the area and spotted on the sonar system an image of a large Admiralty style anchor . It had a
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