The Shipwreck Hunters Australia team searched the extreme Southern Ocean for a long-lost steamship. Conducting a side scan sonar survey, the team found and verified the wreck of the SS Rodondo from 1894.
Watch episode 1: Shadows in the Deep
In 2021, the WA Museum participated in the making of the docuseries Shipwreck Hunters Australia. The series followed divers and underwater filmmakers, Andre Rerekura, Nush Freedman, Johnny Debnam, Ryan Chatfield, and Ash Sutton, as they searched for shipwrecks along the Western Australian coast.
The WA Museum provided maritime archaeological expertise both on camera and behind the scenes, helping to tell the stories of some of Western Australia’s most fascinating shipwrecks.
In 2025, the WA Museum participated in the making of the second season of Shipwreck Hunters Australia.
Once again, the series follows the Shipwreck Hunters searching for shipwrecks along the Western Australian coast.
The WA Museum again provided maritime archaeological expertise both on camera and behind the scenes, helping to find and tell the stories of some of Western Australia’s most fascinating shipwrecks.
The Museum’s Maritime Heritage Department has more than 50 years of experience in maritime archaeological fieldwork and research.
Its contribution to Shipwreck Hunters Australia Series 2 was again led by archaeologists Dr Ross Anderson and Dr Deb Shefi.
Through their involvement in the project, they have contributed to the existing decades of research in this field, with new findings and knowledge about the wreck sites featured in the series.
Season 1 and 2 can be watched on the Disney+ online streaming service.
Featured wreck sites - Season 2
The Shipwreck Hunters Australia team returned to the remote and wild Abrolhos Islands, off the mid-west coast of Australia, to investigate a magnetic target on Half Moon Reef in search of the Ridderschap van Holland.
Watch episode 2: Ghost Ship Quest
While in the remote and wild Abrolhos Islands off the mid-west coast of Australia, the Shipwreck Hunters Australia team dived a wreck site to gather additional photo and video evidence in an effort to confirm that the site is the Cochituate.
Watch episode 2: Ghost Ship Quest
In the mighty Indian Ocean, the Shipwreck Hunters Australia team searched for the 19th-century, three-masted, iron-hulled barque Langstone. Using side-scan sonar, the team surveyed the seafloor around Naturaliste Reef for four days before successfully identifying the wreck site.
Watch episode 3: Shipwreck Curse
The Shipwreck Hunters Australia team visited the known wreck site of the Gudrun, a three-masted, 966-tonne sailing barque built in 1880 by Charland of Quebec, Canada. Located off the coast of Shark Bay, the wreck is difficult to spot due to the dense seaweed that has made its home around the site.
Watch episode 4: Ming Dynasty Treasure
A map and new clues emerge as the Shipwreck Hunters Australia team investigates a centuries-old mystery that has long puzzled experts: what happened to the 68 stranded survivors of the Dutch East India Company ship, Gilt Dragon, which struck a reef and sank in 1656?
Watch episode 5: Surviving the Dragon
The Shipwreck Hunters Australia team explores clues in the search for the Occator, a timber sailing ship built in 1856 that departed the port of Melbourne bound for the northwest of Australia. The voyage was inspired by rumours of a vast guano deposit on the remote Muiron Islands.
Watch episode 6: White Gold Wreck
Featured wreck sites - Season 1
The Shipwreck Hunters team verified the newly discovered wreck site as Glenbank and confirmed what led the ship to rapidly capsize and sink.
Watch episode one: Deep Sea Discovery
The Shipwreck Hunters team investigated new leads and conducted magnetometer searches in new areas based on scientific and archival research.
Watch episode two: Search for Koombana
The Shipwreck Hunters team made one of the most significant finds in Broome for over 20 years.
Watch episode three: Flying Boats of Broome
The Shipwreck Hunters team searched for new wreck site features and any evidence of another wreck in the area.
Watch episode four: Australia’s Oldest Shipwreck
The Shipwreck Hunters team discovered new artefacts from the site of one of Australia’s most significant shipwrecks.
Watch episode five: Survivors of Stefano
The Shipwreck Hunters team explored the theory that the undiscovered Dutch East Indiaman Aagtekerke (1726) wrecked at the same site as Zeewijk (1727).
Watch episode six: Two Wreck Fever
