A nomination committee will be held at 4:30 this afternoon at Buck Rowe’s Store in Bena to discuss the possibility of seeking a marine sanctuary designation for parts of the York River where British shipwrecks from the Battle of Yorktown currently rest.

While still in its preliminary stages, the group appears to consist of historians, the state’s Archeological Board, and representatives from the American Revolutionary War Museum, among others.

Hamilton Williams, a member of the Guinea Heritage Association and Watermen’s Museum, reported that the committee has met several times and drafted a proposal to send to NOAA that would designate areas between Yorktown beachfront and Gloucester Point as a federal maritime sanctuary.

“The proposed area is 210 feet off the low water mark so we don’t interfere with anyone’s riparian rights,” Williams said, “and most of the watermen already know where these wrecks are and avoid them.”

Though n...