Original subtitles

When I'm underwater on Ningaloo,

I feel, like, this amazing sense of calmness and acceptance.

I don't experience it anywhere else,

and it's something that I've experienced ever since I was a child.

It's my greatest feeling of home.

This is my favorite place to dive

because of the amazing coral structures and the world that grows around that,

from the tiny, intricate little fish

all the way up to the big fish like parrotfish and buff bream.

You see reef sharks, rays.

There's amazing megafauna in the big blue on the back of the reef.

And what I love about this spot in particular

is a friendly turtle that always comes and says hello.

Ningaloo is so beautiful, but it's also incredibly dangerous.

We have countless shipwrecks on this reef,

some discovered and some waiting to be discovered.

In the archives, we've actually found a pretty wild story of a wreck.

It was a group of sailors who came to find riches,

but they came unstuck.

The name is Occator, wrecked in 1856,

and I really want to find where she's laying out on the reef

and unravel the story of the crew that goes along with it.

On the beautiful but treacherous Ningaloo Reef...

It almost knocked you out.

A story of greed...

Occator was on the search for white gold.

Tragic mistakes...

Flinders obviously set a booby trap.

And desperation.

That water was, like, life or death.

Searching for a ship...

I just got a hit.

...at the center of an extraordinary maritime misadventure.

There's something sticking out of the water.

It looks very shipwreck-like.

Awesome.

I'm so excited.

Like, the prospect of finding an undiscovered wreck at Ningaloo,

-it's unreal. -Yeah.

It's our backyard.

What if it's been right under our nose the whole time?

Yeah, but it's still a lot of area for us to search.

-Oh, definitely. -That's why we need a team.

Sad that Johnny's not going to be able to join us.

Hopefully he feels better later in the week.

With Johnny out of action for a few days,

Nush and Andre are meeting the rest of the shipwreck hunters

at the tip of North West Cape.

Spanning 260 kilometers along its edge

is Ningaloo, one of the longest fringing reefs in the world.

Nush has also asked an old friend, Annie Boyd, to join the mission.

Author and shipwreck hunter, she's an expert on the wrecks of Ningaloo.

I'm looking forward to the search.

I'm always excited about the prospect of a significant discovery.

We have good chances of finding something special.

On January 12th, 1856,

cargo ship Occator left Melbourne, the capital of Victoria,

with an empty hull, bound for the remote Muiron Islands in Western Australia.

But 24 days later,

near dawn, Occator smashed into Ningaloo reef.

This is her. This is the Occator.

-Oh. Wow. -That's a ripper.

The Occator was traveling up the Ningaloo coast

on the search for what was called white gold.

Yeah, white gold. A little bit of euphemism for guano or bird poo.

You know, they sailed around the continent

because they heard a rumor

that there was a guano deposit eight feet thick on the Muiron Islands.

That's a lot of bird poo.

That's a lot of bird poo.

Yeah, but it's pretty valuable, pretty pricey.

Yeah. It was worth a huge amount in the colony to keep poor soil viable.

I think they even used it for gunpowder.

Yep. The crazy thing was,

they passed a whole lot of islands on the way that are very rich in guano,

but they had their sight set on the Muiron Islands,

which are out this way.

At 3:00 in the morning, with no expectation of seeing breakers,

suddenly, the ship ran up hard on the Ningaloo reef

somewhere along this strip.

-Yeah. -Did they lose any?

No, they all survived.

So we had Captain Place, a crew of nine, and Joseph Jones.

Now, he's listed as a passenger on many reports,

but he was more than that.

He was actually the one that commissioned the voyage,

so maybe he was the one pushing everyone that extra yard

to get to the Muiron Islands.

'Cause he stood to make the most money, right?

Exactly, yeah. Such a crazy story,

and they were so lucky to survive the wrecking event

but, really, it was only the start of their misadventures.

In the middle of the 19th century,

guano was a prized global commodity.

Used mainly as a fertilizer,

it fueled an agricultural boom

and a new type of fortune hunter, like Joseph Jones,

who commissioned Occator for what would be its final voyage.

You know, we've got some good targets for...

You know, it's a fair strip of reef we've got to look at.

So we've got a lot of information about this wreck already.

But where is the best spot to start?

It's a big question,

but let's take one step back to what the crew actually said

about where they believe the wreck had occurred.

Fifty-six nautical miles from the Muiron Islands.

But here's the catch...

And with shipwreck hunting, there's always a catch.

They said they escaped with some navigational instruments,

but they were damaged in the process of getting into the lifeboat or the longboat.

So you cannot trust it, literally.

We could be looking anywhere from Oyster Stacks in the north

all the way down to Carbaddaman Passage.

-Yep. -So it's a big area.

-It is a big area. I'm just picturing... -It could be anywhere.

So I'm pretty excited to show you guys an email from our friend, Ray De Jong,

that he sent to the WA Museum in 2014.

And it's the GPS coordinates and photos

of some artifacts he found that have obviously come off a wreck. So, um...

-Can I have a look? -Yeah, of course you can.

That's a big bronze pin.

Oh, my God, look at that one.

-Mate, it's almost 400 mil long. -Looks like it.

-That's definitely been... -If you go back one photo,

that's definitely the curve of the inside of a hull, I think, isn't it?

And look underneath the curve.

There's some fastenings for, like, hull planking.

That's definitely the shape of a hull of a boat,

-and it looks like a pretty big boat. -So cool. Yeah.

Well, it's a good start,

because we know that Occator was a wooden ship, but iron-framed.

And it would have had bronze fastenings as well, so it's the right kind of stuff.

Yeah, and this was found on the beach sort of near this South Mandu Creek area.

-Okay. -How exciting is that?

It's like we've got this clue, and now we've got to work backwards

to figure out where the wreck might actually be.

Yes, this is our best clue.

Let's start with that and see what we can find.

By combining historical records

with more recent sightings of potential wreckage,

the team has three separate target areas.

However, together, they create

a challenging 35-kilometre-long search zone.

So this is it. Mission is on.

We've got all the kit,

skis are coming down, boats are loaded,

and conditions are looking really, really good.

We think we've got a really good chance.

Today we could make a discovery.

Give us that. Cheers, Annie.

All righty, let's go.

The shipwreck hunters are motoring nearly 30 kilometers south

to their first target at Mandu Mandu Creek.

This is where the shipwreck material in the 2014 photographs was found.

Conditions are perfect for the search.

It's just, hopefully, we get there in one piece

without damaging the boat or crew.

We're on low tide, so even though we're in a jet boat,

it draws a bit of water.

So just all these bommies just pop out,

and because it's pretty flat, they just pop out of nowhere.

So you just got to be a bit careful. Especially at this speed.

We need to stop, mate.

It's so close, but we just can't get through that shallow bit.

How's it look?

Yeah, it's not looking good. It's not looking good.

You don't think we'll get through?

-Not at the moment, not with this tide. -Yep.

We've just hit a really shallow zone,

and the skis are going to have to go ahead and search the lagoon

to try and get up to our targets.

We're not sure, at the moment,

we're gonna be able to get there in this boat,

'cause the coral stands up so much in some areas,

and the tide's just too low.

And you really want to be thinking

those nice, light, skinny thoughts

when you're going over the reef.

While Andre and Ryan look for a way through the reef,

Annie and Ash explore how Captain Place

could have got Occator into so much trouble.

Now, this crew did some things

that didn't really speak of a high level of seamanship.

They were sailing in the mid-1800s.

You would presume that the boat had the best available chart at the time,

which is basically this one, from about 1820.

Now, it's got the coast almost exactly right.

But if they had a map that was based on the work of Matthew Flinders,

there's a very big difference.

Have a look at this.

The red line here

-is the modern coastline. -Yep.

There's a 15-mile difference.

It turns out Matthew Flinders didn't chart this coast at all.

He stole the entire outline of this part of the coast

from the Dutch chart that dated from 1697.

The result was that an error made in 1697 got passed into this map,

and was still sort of in circulation in the mid-1800s,

and that's one of the reasons we have so many wrecks.

Ships were sailing this way thinking they were safe,

and of course, it didn't show the main obstacle at all.

Matthew Flinders obviously set a bit of a booby trap.

So he did.

Captain Place reportedly told the watch

they would see Ningaloo reef near dawn,

at a safe distance of 15 nautical miles.

Instead, they were much closer.

Occator crashed into it.

Andre, Andre, got a copy?

Yeah, Ash. Water's starting to fill in now.

Tide's getting pretty high.

Whenever you're comfortable,

you will probably be able to make your way up here.

Righto. I'll check the tides this end as well,

and you might see me over there.

All right, mate.

Tide's up. I'm pretty confident we'll get over the reef now.

We're going to head over and meet up with the team.

With the tide rising,

Ash carefully moves the boat into the search area.

On the stern of the boat is Mandu Mandu Creek.

The wreckage was found right on the beach here.

So it's perfectly reasonable

that there'd be wreckage spread all over this area.

Nushy, what's the plan?

I think the best thing to do is to get in the water

and have people line searching, and just try get a good visual.

-All right. -Yeah, so, we'll let you know.

Good luck.

The water is beautiful and clear,

and it's also so shallow,

so it gives me high hopes that if there is something there,

that we're going to see it.

Ryan and Andre will use the ski-mounted magnetometer

to scan for signs of metal

that might be buried under the sand and coral.

Whenever you're ready.

I'm just going to run parallel lines along the beach.

I'm gonna start shallow, and I'll just work my way to the west.

That's a great idea.

That's where it's all probably been washed up by the storms.

Okay, we'll let you know how we go.

Start our search pattern.

Hopefully we find something.

What is that?

-I think Nush has found something. -What is it?

I don't know. There's just this real straight line here.

I don't know what it is.

Well, Nushy just did a dive,

and she's come back up, and she's like, "I think I got something."

I'll have a look. I'll try it this way.

Annie uses an underwater metal detector

to check out the straight line.

How did you all go?

-Just a big bit of driftwood. -Yeah.

It's not timber from a ship, right?

So it's just trees.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

We've had a pretty good look around,

and we were really methodical around the float at first,

and then just went out to the surrounds to check.

-Yeah. -It's one of the only spots on Ningaloo

I've seen so much driftwood funneled into the one area.

-Yep. -Yeah.

In 2014, there was a massive cyclone here.

And this is the same year that

-they found the wreckage on the beach. -Yeah.

It makes sense why that finally just got washed up or uncovered.

-Yeah. I think so. -Yep.

The team doesn't believe Mandu Mandu Creek

is the site of the Occator wreck.

I think everyone's still holding a bit of hope

because this is only the first mark that we're looking at right now,

and there's a few other marks.

The shipwreck hunters head home through deep waters

along the outside of the reef.

It's here that, every year,

the world's largest species of fish comes to feed.

Looks like the shark is something about a kilometer

north-north-west of where you guys are.

It's pretty warm water at the moment.

Overhead, a local pilot tells the team a whale shark is nearby.

I mean, I've been out here for 20 years, but I've never seen one in the water.

It's so exciting! We might get you in with your first whale shark.

We're going to get dropped a fair distance away,

and the whale shark will just approach us.

-Yep. -And then we'll kind of hang back

-behind its pec fins. -Yep.

And, probably, yeah.

Just try to stay three meters from the sides and four from the tail.

Hang on. I'll tell you where, one second.

-Ready? -Righty-o.

-In you go. -Going in.

The feeling of swimming next to a whale shark is indescribable.

You're swimming with an absolutely huge animal

that is covered in the most intricate spots and stripe patterns.

But you feel safe because they are these gentle giants.

They migrate thousands of kilometers in our oceans

and are found in most tropical seas.

But there's so little known about these species.

-Mate! -Wicked!

-Biggest fish in the sea! -That was about as good as it gets.

Yeah. That was absolutely insane.

It's like its own little ecosystem, the whale shark.

It's like a traveling ecosystem.

Imagine the crew of the Occator seeing that when they're sailing up.

I wonder what they used to call them.

Sea monster.

They literally would have been like, "What the..."

Overnight, conditions on the reef have changed dramatically.

It means a change of plans.

The west side of the peninsula is pretty blown out today.

The swell is massive, and, yeah, the wind's crazy over there,

so I don't think we're going to be able to do much searching.

Well, there's no way we're getting in any of these gaps in the reef.

It's just too dangerous.

Well, fortunately, it gives us a chance to go to another destination

and explore a different part of the Occator story.

Now you might know from the wrecking of the Occator

that when they managed to get a lifeboat away,

they travelled further north to the Muiron Islands.

A bit odd because the mission was over.

But they'd made an arrangement to meet another vessel up there.

So when they got into their longboat, they thought,

"We're probably okay.

We'll be rescued by the people we were going to meet on the island."

Is there any guano there?

We'll find out.

Well, let's load up.

All right. Let's go find some guano.

Get the shovels.

The team is travelling 42 kilometers north to the Muiron Islands.

On arrival, they are met with the same desolate scene

that confronted Occator's desperate crew.

Ash, what do you think the crew would have thought

when they rocked up here?

Uh... Just total devastation and disappointment.

Not even a hint of guano.

They would have been absolutely upset.

Yep.

Even though it doesn't look like it,

this island is actually a haven for seabirds.

A million wedge-tailed shearwaters alone migrate around this area.

Yeah, they just don't poo here, obviously.

Yeah, I guess not.

No guano meant there would be no rescue ship.

The mission to make a fortune was now a fight to stay alive.

Well, we know that they don't have many provisions.

They landed in February. Do we get rain here in February at all?

You might get lucky. Yeah, you could get a monsoon or a cyclone come close.

Which'd probably fill up some of these holes on top of this rock ridge.

You can see the oysters also lining the high tide mark.

You could have a little feast on that.

Yeah.

-Do you like oysters, Ry? -Nah.

If you were starving, it's not a bad little protein hit.

-Oh, wow. -Good?

It's sweet, yeah.

We come here to what looks like an idyllic scene,

but it's not idyllic if you're in those circumstances.

Nah, I wouldn't be staying around here for much longer.

I'd be getting the heck out of here, mate.

They're looking ahead now, saying, "We've got to survive,"

and their best chance is at the ship.

Back to the big boat.

I'm really, really keen to get off this island

-and go and search for it. -Yeah.

I think we might be up for an early start tomorrow.

After four days on the island

with dangerously little food or water,

the crew of Occator headed back toward the wreck,

hoping to salvage supplies to keep them alive.

Another day brings good news for the shipwreck hunters.

Johnny is well enough to join the search for Occator.

We've all been missing you.

-Hello! -How you guys going?

How's it going?

-It's so good to see you. -You too.

-Good to have you back. -Nice of you to join us.

We've become more like a family than friends over the years, you know,

and if one of us is missing, you really feel it.

We all have our roles to play within the team,

so, yeah, it feels nice to be back with the family.

No luck yet with the search.

We've got some really good clues, so I'm feeling good.

I'm feeling excited. Just want to get out there.

-Good spot here. -I'll let you get out in the water.

We've been searching for a few days now,

and the weather hasn't been too kind to us.

Today, the swell's down.

What do you reckon, Andre?

It's looking good, actually.

Looking at the reef, you can see it's dropped a lot,

so this is our best chance today.

This morning, we're going further south a few kilometers

to what's called Carbaddaman Passage.

And that's going to be an outer reef search,

if the swell permits.

I know we've said the swell's dropped,

but we've gone from impossible to marginal rather than from marginal to good.

So it all depends on how close we can get to the edge of the reef,

because that's where the things we're looking for are going to be found.

What's interesting about Carbaddaman Passage

is that it kind of lines up in the story and the accounts from the crew,

that the wreck might be in that location.

Yeah, I think having heaps of eyes and heaps of time in the water's

-going to help us hugely here as well. -Yeah.

Well, we haven't had much luck,

so maybe you can bring us some good fortune, mate.

We're going to find it first dive, I reckon. Ry, let's go.

Confident.

All right, let's go.

The shipwreck hunters will now search Carbaddaman Passage.

This stretch of reef lines up with the survivors' account

of how far they sailed,

when returning to the wreck from the Muiron Islands.

You can see that reef sticking out over there.

There's some really shallow spots.

Yep.

So clear. Jesus.

Hey, Dre, have you got the marks for the start and the end of the line?

I don't have marks, but I can just see the reef.

It's pretty flat. We should get pretty close.

-Yeah. -Awesome!

-Pretty excited, actually. -Yeah.

-Let's go then! -Let's go.

This time, the three-kilometer search area

is on the exposed outside of the reef.

The team must push the ski-mounted magnetometer

as close to the edge as possible without being swept into it.

It's so remote. There's not another person in sight.

No other boats around here.

So you can imagine, you know, in the late 1800s,

it'd be a horrendous place to wreck your ship.

Even today, you'd be in a bit of trouble.

Even those small swells, imagine getting caught in that.

-Yeah. -It's not great.

Nah. Massive coral bommies just sticking up off the seafloor,

and just the, the full force of the West Australian Ocean

just smashing up against this reef.

That beautiful water is so clear and clean.

All right, we're on target now.

Okay. All right.

I just got a hit. Just got a hit right there.

Have we found something? Have we run into something here?

I don't know.

-The boys got a marker there. -Huh?

Did you get a good hit?

-Is it good? -Yeah.

So Johnny threw the the float in, and it's marked the spot.

Nushy and Dre are just going to head straight in there now.

And we're just going to go up, do another lap,

and come back and do a second pass over it.

Yeah, Jetfire, Jetfire, copy?

Yeah, mate.

Looks like we got a bit of a hit, then.

The boys just dropped the marker float in,

and Nushy's going to go in and check it out.

Wow, that's awesome, mate. Um... Fingers crossed.

Well, you know, it'd be a fluke,

but Johnny did say we were going to find it on the first swim, didn't he?

He did, mate, yeah.

Nush dives into the impact zone

where the surf hits the outer reef, investigating the magnetometer mark.

Ryan and Johnny return, having completed their sweep.

She mustn't have seen anything yet.

I'm sure she'll let us know very loudly if she does.

The wind is picking up,

and the sea conditions are worsening.

It's not the only bad news.

False reading, we reckon.

Nushy checked it out, couldn't find anything.

What do you reckon we do?

All right, look, I think you should maybe come back in, mate.

You're getting smashed.

Yeah, sounds good.

Anything would be better than out here.

Roger roger.

Pretty rough out there at the moment, eh?

So rough. Wind's just picked up, intense.

Let's try and get on safely.

The conditions make it dangerous just getting back aboard.

Johnny.

Just pulled the ladder into your head. I was like...

Yeah.

There was a solid rope on it, and it just snapped.

Yeah, the rope snapped, so...

I'd checked it before I climbed up.

Yep.

-And I snapped it clean. -It's a bit high up.

I thought for a moment you were unconscious.

You're gonna be all right.

Get the super glue on it as soon as possible.

That way, it'll heal, so the girls still fall in love with Johnny.

So what was... Was it the ladder that come down?

Yeah, we came back on the boat and we hadn't found it,

and Ash just belted me with the anchor.

Well, Johnny, I reckon you gave it a good crack, mate,

and I think we've pretty much searched and searched and searched.

Yeah, we covered a hell of a lot of ground.

I think we'd say this section of reef is covered.

There's still some more to be done further south.

The team decides to call it a day.

Tomorrow, they will prepare for their final target

by investigating another historical lead.

After a grueling journey back from the Muiron Islands,

as they approach the wreck site,

the exhausted crew of Occator

say they encountered a group of First Nations people on the beach.

If they can pinpoint where this happened,

the shipwreck hunters will be one step closer to finding Occator.

Hi, Hazel.

Nush and Andre are meeting good friend and local elder Hazel Walgar

at Yardie Creek to see if she can help.

Beautiful spot, eh?

Yeah, beautiful spot. We've got some...

There's a little rock wallaby.

Aw! It's so beautiful!

Amazing.

We've been on this search for a ship called the Occator,

and it wrecked in 1856,

and there were survivors that had an interaction

with the indigenous people.

Could this be the place that they stopped?

Yeah. This was an ideal spot.

We used to come here, the Yardie mob.

We got fresh water.

Plenty to eat.

Our old people once lived here.

A very significant place for us.

According to the crew of Occator,

after attempting to retrieve a barrel of water from the shore line,

they left in a hurry,

Mr. Jones firing at the local men.

It's really sad of the outcome of what happened.

It's a barrier of two different languages.

Our old people, they never spoke English.

And just imagine if those mob came onshore

and, without that attitude,

the Yardie people would've took them in and nurtured them and looked after 'em.

And the best place for you guys now

is to go out there and have a look.

Straight out from here, Yardie Creek, yeah.

And I hope you find what yous are looking for.

Thanks so much. We'll definitely let you know how we go.

Hazel has confirmed

indigenous people were living in this location

when Occator wrecked.

It's possible this is where the crew made contact.

The shipwreck hunters move the search for Occator

to the outer reef at Yardie Creek.

This is the third target spot.

We've crossed out two, with no luck,

but it's always a fingers crossed game, and let's just hope it works out.

It also lines up with other evidence

that points to this location...

Right here.

...as a possible wreck site.

We're right out from the mouth of the Yardie Creek.

So, very close to an anecdotal report of ship timber being found

on the edge of the reef in this vicinity,

under a heavy layer of coral.

By the look of it, we're in 10 to 12 meters of water.

For this crew, that's free dive able,

but because they want to spend time on the bottom

and look conscientiously for signs of wreckage, they're all on scuba.

We're all just heading down.

We're right on the outside of the reef.

Let's get started, hey?

Roger that, mate.

Let's hunt for that shipwreck.

It's very mysterious down here.

There's, like, a big, rocky mass.

Lots of little cracks and crevices.

Some really awesome coral with fish hiding out.

Ryan's just having a bit of a look in a big crack now.

Johnny's just checking in a few spots with the metal detector,

with the little hand held metal detector, poking in all the little holes.

Hopefully we get a ping soon.

Nothing yet, mate.

This coral could definitely be hiding some secrets.

It's quite thick, hard coral.

So there's no way to sort of look in some of the cracks between it

because it's so thick.

Working our way around it now.

After an hour searching through a maze of dense coral,

the team has run out of options.

I've had a good detect around here.

No, nah, nothing here that's standing out.

And they're running low on air.

Okay, mate, time's up.

Yeah, all right. Let's go back to the boat.

Okay.

Diver on the surface.

So while you guys were down there for quite a while,

I thought they've either found a shipwreck or some wildlife.

But then I thought, if you'd found a shipwreck,

you would've been straight up and gone... Oh!

But I reckon it was just wildlife, again.

It was pretty spectacular down there.

And you're right. We were looking at wildlife.

Bang on, Ash.

No anchors, then?

No.

You keep thinking, "What about over that next coral ridge?"

Like, "What if we check up there?"

"Bit further south?" You just can't stop wondering where it is.

It's a lifelong search.

Oh, yeah. It's the fever, isn't it?

-It is, yeah. -Yeah.

I feel sorry for you, Annie,

'cause you've put so much effort into this story, you know?

No, no, don't be like that. I just feel thankful

that I've got such a team on hand

to assist with something which was always going to take a bit of time.

So, okay, we tick off those, we cross off those options,

and where is the next most likely?

After their altercation at Yardie Creek,

the crew of Occator fled Ningaloo,

sailing 300 kilometers south in a tiny longboat

to Dirk Hartog Island.

"When they got ashore, they were so weak they could hardly stand."

There, they found several turtles,

and by sucking their blood,

"derived nourishment of which they were in great need."

Look, I can only guess, but when you're that starved and...

-for water, you'd do anything. -Yep.

This is still all of them?

Yep, but only by a whisker.

After about 40 days,

there were only two of them who were capable of sailing the boat.

Now, fortunately, something happened in their favor.

-They saw another vessel... -Oh, my God.

...and the two guys who were capable of sailing the boat

managed to get the boat and draw attention to their plight.

-Oh, wow. -And you know

-what the great irony of this story is? -No.

They were picked up by a schooner that had loaded guano.

Oh, my God.

The final insult.

We're going to be a wreck any minute. Look at this.

Yeah.

Get us out of here!

Better lean over here.

We were nearly shipwrecked then.

As the team begins the long journey home,

Ryan spots something on the shoreline.

What the hell?

What is that?

I don't know what it is.

Eh?

What do you reckon it is?

The hunt for Occator might not be over yet.

Yeah, Ash, Ash, you got a copy?

What's up?

Yeah, mate, we've just seen something on the beach.

Yeah, I can even see it from here.

Looks very shipwreck-like.

There's something sticking out of the water there, too, Ry.

We need to get on the beach, eh? Maybe we'll just...

There's a little beach there. We can put the skis on and walk up.

Roger.

-You okay? -Yeah.

Be careful.

-All right. -You good?

Hang tight.

What do you reckon?

I could be wrong, but it's ferrocement.

Looks like a flange there.

Ash, look at the corner there.

It looks like it's riveted in both directions,

and that would date it a hundred years back at least.

But see how it tapers down to almost...

Like, this is the shape of the hull.

-Yeah. -This is a significant find.

-It is. -Yeah.

That looks like an observation port in a boiler.

Oh, yeah, you're right.

It's part of a boiler or the fire pit underneath or something.

But if it is, it's a steamship.

It's not a sailer, I mean...

But it could be off a sailing ship like Occator, Annie,

because they had a lot of stuff like this on ships as well back in the day.

Boilers for powering winches and stuff like that.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

It's a pity it's getting late in the day, because this is worth a good look.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, how...

There's something sticking out of the water there.

Yeah, there could be more buried in the dunes. Who knows?

But seriously, we got to get the boat back.

-It's been a massive day. -Yeah.

Let's go do some research and come back tomorrow.

Many mid-ninth century sailing ships,

like Occator, were fitted with boilers.

They powered lifting equipment and other machinery on deck.

The next day, the team is returning to the boiler,

hoping it will lead to Occator.

After contacting the Western Australian Museum,

confidence is growing.

The crazy thing is, like, it's an unregistered site.

The WA Museum didn't know that it was there.

Yeah, which is so exciting if it could be linked to the Occator.

There she is.

Up to you, Annie.

One of the things we should be looking for is timber,

because it will make a difference

about whether this is something that was part of a ship when it got here,

or was perhaps even discarded from it.

So timber, metal...

In fact, anything that looks a bit odd.

All right, then. Let's get to it.

-All right. Great. -Yeah.

So we have our eyes really dialed in,

searching this beach and the shallows.

We're looking for anything that can indicate that there's a wreck here,

not just that old boiler.

And it looks like there's a lot of clues here.

There's a piece of really old wood here.

It's only quite small, but it looks worm-eaten.

It doesn't look like it's from around here.

This sort of stuff, it might be able to give us an insight.

You know, you can see wreckage right in the shallows,

so if we're lucky,

we might be able to get a bit further out and spot something else.

I reckon you got a pretty good chance

of finding something along that reef edge, like you said.

It runs all the way from there right along past our boiler,

so I'll start at that end and drift along,

keeping an eye out for anything that's just collected in the overhang.

-All right, enough chit-chat. Let's go. -All right.

-In you get. -Let's do it.

Nush, Andre, and Annie spread out to search the reef and shallows

for signs of a shipwreck.

It's a good little spot. Good ledge there.

This is the perfect place to capture bits of ship.

Or me!

After a thorough inspection of the site,

the team will send the findings to the Western Australian Museum

for further analysis.

So it's the last day on Ningaloo.

We've packed all of our gear,

and overnight, we sent all the imagery

that we captured yesterday at the boiler wreck site

through to Deb from the WA Museum.

And what we're hoping for is for her to come back with some new information

about what the wreckage was, where it's come from,

and what ship it belonged to.

-Bit sad. -Getting geared up, my brother.

Wow, that's cool.

-Hey, Deb. -Deb, g'day, mate.

-Hi. -Hi everyone.

From the photos that you sent through, it looks like

it's one of the small-sized Scotch boilers which is basically a marine boiler

that they began manufacturing in 1865.

Yeah, so that's not the Occator?

No, unfortunately not.

Occator wrecked nine years before Scotch boilers were invented.

But I'm pretty sure you found a new site.

-Oh, wow. -Great.

A whole new adventure, so it's pretty good.

-That's great. -It's still a new discovery.

-That's so good. -That's awesome.

Yeah, that's amazing.

Well done, team.

It does show how rich our coastline is

with, like, shipwreck artifacts and things that are still aren't discovered.

Yeah. The Occator, I guess, is still out there somewhere.

Mate, any excuse to come back to Ningaloo.

Well, look, there's at least 1,300 shipwrecks

and other maritime archaeological sites

along the coast of Western Australia alone that still need to be located.

-Perfect. -We've got some work to do.

Yes, we do.

It's going to keep us busy.

We'll keep looking.

Thanks, Deb.

Although yet to find Occator,

the shipwreck hunters have found a new archaeological site.

The mysterious boiler on the beach has been added

to the team's growing list of discoveries.

Shipwreck hunting is not just about finding a shipwreck.

It's about the stories, the people,

the wildlife you encounter on the way, the incredible locations.

I feel really lucky to investigate these stories

and share them with people,

because it's an incredible part of Australian history

that otherwise would've been forgotten.