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S E P T E M B E R 1ST
1 9 9 8 |
Tufan's weather report |
 
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Last night we put to sea. The boat left the harbor
alone, other ships criss-crossing our wake behind us but none headed out of the
harbor. The lights and sounds of Bodrum faded, and the stars over the Aegean grew
more brilliant. Our running light was clouded by thick deisel smoke, and Tufan, ever
aware of the condition of his ship, explained that some air had been trapped in the fuel
line during minor repairs. The problem would sort itself out.
Our destination was just over an hour away, a small cove called Kargili. Here we
would meet the last of one of INA's most valuable assets: Sponge Divers. |
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In 1960's at least 80 boats like this one plied the seas
in search of sponges.
5 or 6 divers would live on the boat for five months of the year, leaving their families
behind on the shore. These days, very few remain. Sponges are scarce. The
expanding tourist industry promises greater profits for boat owners, and the hard work and
long periods at sea discourage most mariners from this pursuit. This boat, the
Ciflik, is perhaps the last sponge boat in the Bodrum area. |
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Nautral sponges have become obsolete with the advent of
syenthetic sponges. They are a luxury item, and few understand the difficulty
undertaken to obtain them. |
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Mehmet Cakir is one of the senior sponge divers in Ciflik,
a village close to Bodrum. For many years he has been covering underwater areas
around the Aegean and Mediterranean Turkish coast. Sponge divers usualy dive with air
suplied from an air compressor in their little boat. They carry a bag made of
netting where they keep the sponges. After returning to the surface, the sponges
will be cleaned and dried. |
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During his many dives he has seen many more things than
sponges. Piles of amphoras usually demonstrate the existence of an old shipwreck,
but some times there are other objects that are not so easy to identify.
In 1982 Mehmet Cakir, while diving in Uluburun, found a large pile of concreted
copper ingots. Fortunately their importance had been described to him by the
archaeologists in Bodrum and he reported them inmediately... |
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His discovery led to the most important underwater
excavation of all time. The Uluburun Shipwreck completly changed existing notions of
trade in the Late Bronze Age, illuminating a vastly more pervasive and intricate network
of commerce between nations than had previously been imagined. Completed in 1994,
the objects found on this wreck are still being analyzed. New discoveries are made
every day.
Mehmet Cakir and the other sponge divers provide an invaluable service to marine
archaeologists. Spending countless hours in the water is search of sponges, they
have found numerous wrecks along the Turkish coastline. |
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