AN exciting development at the site for the new Parks and Wildlife headquarters was unveiled today where a whaling ship from 1840 may have been found.
West Australian Museum Department of Maritime Archaeologist Ross Anderson was confident they had found the Samuel Wright whaling ship after the location had been tested with water probes and timber floated to the surface.
The excavation started today and will be carried out over the next eight days, he said.
Since the environmental and site assessments have got underway at the new Parks and Wildlife headquarters, the Department of Maritime and archaeology have been able to complete their survey and confirmed there was a large timber feature under the ground, Mr Anderson said.
“There is a 36 by 14 metre timber features which we think is a very good sign of a ship wreck in pretty much the exact location of where the resurvey puts the Samuel Wright in,” he said.
“The archaeological work will be to take the samples and determine the structure of the ship which will be a good indication in itself and any artifacts that might help us identify it and confirm it.
“It is difficult to interpret something that is buried underground but one of the projects we are doing here would be to digitally photograph it and be able to create 3D models.”
He said if the ship was found they would re-bury it because that is the safest place it can be in its ideal preservation condition underground.
If they were to have the ship in an interpretive space it would require specific ongoing temperature and humidity monitoring and treatment for water logged timber, he said.
Mr Anderson said Western Australia has 1600 shipwrecks but because it is a very expensive exercise to preserve them, they can’t all be raised and put in a museum.
Bunbury MLA John Castrilli said they had been doing a comprehensive investigation of the site and it was an interesting outcome which could add to the interpretive displays at the new headquarters.
In 1841 the mast of the Samuel Wright was used as a triangulation point for the planning of the City of Bunbury, Mr Castrilli said.
“It’s the only city in Australia where a mast of a ship was used as a triangulation point for the planning commencement for any city in Australia,” he said.
“It will be fantastic to link the whole history of this area – to the mangroves, to Bunbury being one of the first major industries that happened and the whaling industry that happened in Bunbury in the 1840s.”
If the ship is found there will be public tours of the site between 2.30pm and 4.00pm this Saturday and Sunday.
