Guarding the ghost fleet of Mallows Bay on the Potomac River

In a quiet inlet halfway down the Potomac River, Don Shomette pushes off a muddy landing in his weather-beaten canoe.

It's a trip he's made thousands of times but as he rounds the corner upon scores of decaying ships left over from World War I, he is reminded why he keeps coming back to Mallows Bay.

"It's rather ironic that we have these ships which were engaged in a massive war of destruction now being reclaimed by nature," Shomette says, as he rows out onto the water.