A rare Bronze Age sword has been discovered by the South West Maritime Archaeological Group( SWMAG) during investigations on the Salcombe Cannon and Moor Sand protected wreck sites off the Devon coast.

Initial assessment suggests the weapon belongs to the Middle or Late Bronze Age( c. 1300 – 800 BC). Previous seabed finds from Salcombe already suggest that there are remnants of at least two separate Bronze Age shipwrecks. After preservation, the sword will be donated to the British Museum, where it will be studied and made accessible for future research.

The sword was recovered from an area first investigated in the late 1970s by pioneering maritime archaeologist Keith Muckelroy.

SWMAG divers Becky Gill and Catherine Gill made the discovery.“ A kid at Christmas does not come close to the excitement of finding this sword,” Becky said.

Everyone loves diving with sharks. Well perhaps not everyone, but it’ s definitely a pastime on the up. And this is, by and large, a great thing. I’ ve talked in this column previously about the value of diving in supporting people’ s appreciation of sharks, and willingness to support conservation efforts. But it’ s not always positive. And a few recent case studies highlight the need for a bit of caution.

At the centre of issues around shark diving is provisioning – the intentional or unintentional provision of food, bait or scent to attract wild sharks. As with all things there are responsible and less responsible ways of handling provisioning – balancing the ecological conditions with the desire to provide good diving experiences for guests. And, of course, to ensure safety. On the whole, good practice predominates. But it’ s not always a simple calculation. There are factors outside of the divershark dynamic that are not always obvious. A recent study in Mauritius looked at the three-way interaction between sharks, dive operators and commercial fishers. Fishers – commercial and recreational – have long suffered from bite-off( or depredation). This is when a hooked fish, before being reeled in, is taken by a shark. Seems fair enough from the shark’ s perspective but it’ s bad

A baited dive for great hammerheads in the Bahamas

news for fishers, especially if that’ s how they make a living. It’ s not uncommon for sharks to be known by fishers as the Tax Man. And this is generally not a compliment.

The argument in the Maldives goes something like this: chumming for shark diving is conditioning sharks to connect boat activity with a free meal, leading to an increase in depredation and reduced catch for fishers. At the same time, more shark-dive tourism leads to greater demand for seafood in the hotels and restaurants. And so, fishers find it increasingly difficult to catch in-demand species and make a living. You can see how this could lead to conflicts between groups trying to make ends meet.

Similar challenges are being played out elsewhere. In Florida, recreational anglers claim baited dives and conservation measures are leading to‘ out of control’ depredation, which impacts on the livelihoods of charter skippers. There are, of course, two sides( or more) to the argument, but it’ s potentially bad news for sharks and conservation if we let these conflicts run.

So, what do we do? Well, the first thing is, take this stuff seriously. We need to see the issues from all sides, look at mitigation measures for depredation and ensure the shark diving best practice is not only established, but communicated and adhered to. There’ s much to be done and much to be learned. That’ s where we all come in. If you want to know more about the issue and how, as divers, we can be part of the solution, check out The Shark Trust Podcast series 2( Living with Sharks). Go on, take the bait … www. sharktrust. org

PHOTO: SIMON ROGERSON

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