The short answer is that we don’t know and will most likely never know. It’s not as though the guilty party came to us afterward announcing that, “I just committed a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law and eagerly await paying a $1,000 fine and spending up to a year in jail.”
Sadly, attitudes toward the environment were very different 50 years ago. Carving your initials into or otherwise defacing natural formations was common. Thankfully, it’s something most people would never dream of doing today.
They say time heals all wounds. Since it first appeared in the early 1970s, most of the four-foot-wide peace symbol that gives Peace Rock its name has worn away. If you hold your dive light at a shallow angle, you can still make it our…barely.
Just bear in mind that if you feel compelled to leave permanent evidence of your disregard for the environment and your fellow dives, your reward could be:
- An arrest record.
- A $1,000 fine.
- Expensive attorney’s fees.
- A reputation throughout the dive community as someone dive sites should ban.
It’s not worth it. Trust us.