Ethics: Oceanic or other salvage operations - is it graverobbing?

[Delta4Embassy]

Some bit on CNN earlier today touched a nerve since I've written about it before and thought it'd make a nice ethics thread here: is salvaging shipwrecks, or other locations tantamount to graverobbing?

I understand after so long on the bottom of the sea, a ship's property can be legally salvaged. As such it's not illegal like graverobbing. But when people died in the wreck, then people come along and take property from the bodies of dead people (literally or not) isn't that still unethically-something?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Not so with the US Navy. No matter how many years have passed, whatever is at the bottom of the ocean still belongs to them.

Army, Air Force, Marines, if you can bring it up it's yours.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Not so with the US Navy. No matter how many years have passed, whatever is at the bottom of the ocean still belongs to them.

Army, Air Force, Marines, if you can bring it up it's yours.

That's more the maritime legal aspect. Thanks for the info though. I'm more interested in the overall ethicacy of it. It's taking things from what amounts to a gravesite. Yes, no, maybe so?