I don't know how to feel about this. As we all know, the remains of the Titanic were discovered several years ago. The group that discovered the ship was quite emotional, treated the area with respect, retrieved nothing and left a plaque on the remains honoring the memory of the 1500 souls who perished.

A French team then proceeded to go the area and retrieved everything they could: passenger eyeglasses, a child's doll,
shoes, lamps, jewelry etc. At first it felt to me like grave robbing and a violation of the victim's dignity.

Then I thought what good were these items gone forever? Were these items any different from the unwrapped mummies in the Egyptian Museum?

Then I go back to feeling that Titanic is an almost sacred site.

Help me to decide. Sacred or souvenir?

I feel that it is sacred. I have been very interested in the Titanic since I was young and was very excited when Ballard discovered the wreck. I was especially moved by the respect and honor he showed the wreck during his exploration. To be honest, I was pretty disgusted at the way the French team laid waste to the wreck. Not only from taking all the personal items but also things extremely symbolic of the Titanic - like pulling up the large copper stand that held the ship's wheel. The difference from Ballard's photos of the wreck to ones taken after the numerous visits from the salvage crew are very disheartening. It seems like the very soul of the once great ship has been torn away. I also think that it should be treated as a memorial graveyard for all the lost souls that perished. Maybe it should have been treated similarly like the USS Arizona. Men still remained entombed in that ship and their resting place is not allowed to be disturbed. So, to make a long story short - I vote for Sacred!

As a history nut I am torn. I think a good compromise is to allow a government run expedition by Museum professionals taking only minimal things to be displayed in same museums. If they are left there they will decay anyway. Discretion I think.

Mountain, I would agree except that the most of the items taken were sold at auction for money. If it had been a purely recovery with all artifacts being put in museums, I would feel better. While there was a large museum exhibit put together, there were also a number of auctions selling personal items - which I do find a bit disgusting.

I'm with Ghosttowner on this.. would hate to think people were profiting from HMAS Sydney.. which has been treated as Ghosttown says USS Arizona has.. it is considered a war grave. I realise the Titanic's demise wasn't war related, but it is still a resting place.

I think it should be treated as a grave. Anything where bodies still lie is a grave and should be respected as such. Perhaps someone should dig up and loot the graves of their kin so they'd figure out how it felt.

Yes, exactly what Ghosttowner said.

These people, stealing for personal profit, are no different from Burke and Hare. Their behaviour would be unacceptable if the graves were on dry land: the fact that they're underwater doesn't make it acceptable.

Vultures