25 Jul 2013Moya Smith on Secrets of the AfterlifeAt the opening of Secrets of the Afterlife, we interviewed Moya Smith, Head of the Anthropology and Archaeology Department at Western Australian Museum, about her reflections on this blockbuster exhibition. Read more Video Western Australian Museum
Subterranean Biology ReportsDepartmental resources | Updated 7 months agoChristmas Island This following list contain links to download the report "Assessment of the ecological values and management options for cave use on Christmas Island" (1998) by W.F. Humphreys and Stefan M. Eberhard.More information
25 Jul 2013Month of Shipwrecks – Batavia Expedition 2013This photo gallery showcases some photo highlights of the research expedition to the Abrolhos islands during April-May 2013.Read more Photo Galleries Danny Murphy
23 Jul 2013The megamouth results are in!Back in early June we needed to weigh our iconic megamouth shark to test how effective the glycerol solution conservation technique had been in restoring mass to our megamouth shark. At the time, we ran a contest to see who could guess how large the weight gain would be. We can now confirm that Megamouth has gained just under 30% of its original mass through the conservation process, and Jahmila Parthenay - you are our winner! Jahmila entered via Facebook and was the closest of our 21 guesses.Read more Blog entry Western Australian Museum
16 Jul 2013Jeremy Green: The Deep-Water GraveyardThe settlement of Western Australia meant that an increasing number of ships were sailing into port. Some of these ships were incapable of carrying on due to factors like age and storm damage, and so were being abandoned on pristine beaches. This caused unrest within the local community as it ‘didn’t look good’ to have wrecked ships lining the coast.Read more Video Western Australian Museum
11 Jul 2013Apothecary Jars from Batavia and Gilt DragonThe Batavia wreck site produced a large collection of medical supplies used by the ship’s surgeon – one of the largest ever found from this period. Coral, an aquatic archaeology student from Texas A&M. University came to Western Australia to study the medical supplies of the Dutch wrecks Batavia and Gilt Dragon (Vergulde Draeck). Her study focused on shipboard medicine from large trading companies of the 17th and 18th centuries.Read more Video Western Australian Museum
8 Jul 2013The Mysteries of BataviaBatavia is housed at the Western Australian Museum’s Shipwreck Galleries, and can tell us a lot about seafaring and shipbuilding in the 17th Century. Batavia is unique. It sank in 1629, right off the Western Australian coast in the Houtman-Abrolhos archipelago. It was the first Dutch East India ship to be lost along this rugged coastline.Read more Video Western Australian Museum
5 Jul 2013Patrick Baker: Exploring the James MatthewsThe James Matthews was a colonial ship that was wrecked in 1841, about 8 or 9 km from the Fremantle Maritime Museum, at Woodman Point. The ship was carrying a group of settlers coming out from the United Kingdom. They were, quite literally, as Patrick Baker points out, ‘on the doorstep of their new home’ when the ship sank.Read more Video Western Australian Museum
1 Jul 2013Month of Shipwrecks July 2013 is the Month of Shipwrecks. At 9:30am every weekday throughout the month a new video, map, mini-website, photo gallery, lecture, interview or database will be available exclusively on this website to reveal new insights about wrecks such as the Batavia, SS Xantho and James Matthews, or invite you behind-the-scenes to learn about our research and archaeology. Read more Online Exhibition Danny Murphy
1 Jul 2013Corioli: The Shipwrecked SepiaThe Sepia was a three-masted iron sailing barque that wrecked en route to Fremantle, 3km west of Carnac Island. It was carrying general supplies needed for the growing colony. Corioli has carried out excavations on the site and has found items that reveal information about consumer goods for early colonists, which gives us great insight into their needs and wants.Read more Video Western Australian Museum
21 Jun 2013Sunny the SunfishOcean Sunfish Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) This magnificent Ocean Sunfish (nicknamed ‘Sunny’ due to the sunglasses used for scale in the photo) was washed up at Jay’s Beach in Augusta in August 2010. This individual is a juvenile by sunfish standards, at around 1.5m nose to tail and 2.2m between fin tips, as they can reach over 4m in length and over 2,000kg.Read more Blog entry Western Australian Museum
19 Jun 2013Returning a 1903 Oldsmobile to its former glory...The 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile (CDO)Read more Blog entry Western Australian Museum