Divers should be aware that displacement and theft of artifacts from a historic shipwreck is illegal under state law. Even seemingly harmless activities such as gathering artifacts for photography can encourage or facilitate their removal from the site by collectors. This displacement also can hasten corrosion of artifacts and prevents researchers from understanding the original placement and function of artifacts on the ship, destroying potentially important information.

Report shipwreck looting to the DNR at 800-TIP-WDNR.

As with many other wrecks in the Great Lakes, zebra mussels have colonized the Pilot Island wrecks. These prolific mollusks are very difficult to control, and further colonization appears inevitable.

Dive guides to the Pilot Island site and six other shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan are now available. These are similar to the set produced for Wisconsin's Lake Superior shipwrecks and were produced by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the UW Sea Grant Institute. Additional information about diving at the Pilot Island site is available in local dive shops.

You can learn more about the history and archaeological findings of the Forest, the Gilmore, and the Nichols in "Survey of Submerged Cultural Resources in Northern Door County," by David J. Cooper.

You can learn more about the history and archaeological findings of the Forest, the Gilmore , and the Nichols in "Survey of Submerged Cultural Resources in Northern Door County," by David J. Cooper.

Please help us preserve this invaluable piece of our maritime heritage. If you visit the wrecks of Pilot Island, please take only pictures and leave only bubbles.

Learn more about Protecting Our Heritage in the Diver's Area.