Abandoned Shipwrecks Act particular case of the salvage of the "Nuestra Señora de Atocha", an historic and culturally significant wreck off the coast of Florida, in which the State of Florida was unable to prevent illegal salvage operations due to a lack of a suitable law that would disallow it, spurred action at the federal level to address the situation. On April 29, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill (Abandoned Shipwrecks Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100-298, 102 Stat. 432) into law. The law provides that any wreck that lies embedded in a state's submerged lands is property of that state and
Save Ontario Shipwrecks sank on August 8, 1917, during a summer gale off Amherst Island near Kingston, Ontario The SOS Ohio chapter explored 22 wrecks in Fathom Five National Marine Park in 1986-1987, a popular place to snorkel and scuba dive. The "Sweepstakes", for example, a two-masted schooner which sank in 1885, lies just below the surface in Big Tub harbor. SOS also explored the wreck of the SS "Keystorm" (1909–1910), which struck Scow Island shoal in fog near Alexandria Bay, New York on October 12, 1912. Although SOS generally surveys shipwrecks, chapters also explored The Lost Villages. Guard Lock 21, which was