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Potentially Polluting Wrecks as Underwater Cultural Heritage: Testing the Florida Master Site File to Identify Polluting Shipwreck Sites On the Gulf Coast
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Potentially Polluting Wrecks as Underwater Cultural Heritage: Testing the Florida Master Site File to Identify Polluting Shipwreck Sites On the Gulf Coast

Emma K. Graumlich
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2025

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Abstract

Potentially polluting shipwreck (PPW) sites, broadly defined, are those that sank while containing polluting materials onboard in the form of fuel, cargo, or within the wreck structure itself. Such pollutants could cause environmental harm if the structure became compromised and released them into the surrounding oceanic ecosystem. Humanity’s history of commerce, recreation, and warfare has left a legacy of hundreds of sunken vessels scattered across the Florida Gulf coastline in waters whose health is essential to Florida’s ecology, economy, and culture. This thesis investigates whether any historic shipwreck sites meeting PPW criteria exist on the Florida Gulf coast and considers how cultural resource managers may become involved in their management. A replicable, desk-based methodology was developed to test the utility of an existing cultural heritage database—The Florida Master Site File—for identifying historic PPWs in Florida state waters. The results of this methodology are contextualized through an assessment of the broader discussion of managing heritage at risk in the face of a changing climate and the state of existing wreck site management practices.
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