Presented by the WA Maritime Museum.

Finding the oldest shipwrecks in the Swan River with Patrick Morrison, Assistant Curator, Department of Maritime Heritage, WA Museum.

There are more than a thousand shipwrecks in WA, but only 300 have been located by archaeologists. Learn about several recent discoveries made using open multibeam datasets, databases of historic vessels, and underwater photogrammetry techniques. This includes the oldest known wreck in the Swan River and several other wrecks spanning more than 100 years of Australia’s history. Hear about the exciting work planned in the coming year—with innovative techniques that will allow us to reveal the buried extent of the wrecks without disturbing them.

Join us on International Museums Day for a local story that has been concealed and preserved in the silted banks of the Swan River.

About the speaker: Patrick Morrison has discovered several wrecks, including the oldest shipwreck in the Swan River and the Dutch WWII submarine K XI, co-authored the first discovery of submerged Aboriginal artefacts underwater on the Australian continental shelf, and teaches Maritime and Historical Archaeology at UWA. He has recently recorded two significant shipwrecks with the WA Museum (Trial 1622 and Zeewijk 1727) using innovative 3D photogrammetric techniques. Patrick is currently completing PhD research on how people responded to changing climate and rising seas over the last 10,000 years in Murujuga, Northwest Australia.

When: 2-3pm, Sunday 18 May 2025

Where: WA Maritime Museum, Victoria Quay Road, Fremantle / Walyalup WA

For more information and registration: https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime/sunday-seminars-heritage-festival-2025