Centuries-old shipwreck in Western Australia's Deadwater remains unsolved

In the stagnant lagoon known locally as the Wonnerup Deadwater, a modest archaeological crew under Ian McCann is hunting for remnants of a ship that has intrigued settlers since the early days of British colonisation. While the team has retrieved items like a Jim Beam can, an antique bottle, and a tiny copper nail, these finds appear to be recent rather than evidence of the alleged wreck. Colonial records from the 1840s, including reports by Francis Thomas Gregory and Leonard Worsley Clifton, describe a sizable vessel that may have grounded in the shallow estuary, prompting theories that it could be a 17th-century Dutch trader, a French chaloupe from the Baudin expedition, or an early American whaler.

The WA Maritime Museum holds several ambiguous artefacts—hardwood braces, small cannons, pistols—yet none have been conclusively linked to the mystery. Local legends speak of pirate treasure and the dramatic fate of John Hurford and Bridget Larkin, but historians argue any valuables would have been scavenged long ago. Shifting shorelines, mining activity, and the high cost of extensive surveys mean the wreck’s identity may stay hidden beneath the mud.