Includes wrecks associated with early exploration, colonial trade, whaling and the introduction of steam technology.

Subject areas discussed in this book include shipwrecks and abandoned vessels, underwater site formation processes, maritime infrastructure and industries such as whaling, submerged aircraft and Australian Indigenous sites underwater. The application of National and State legislation and management regimes to these underwater cultural heritage sites is also highlighted. The contributors of this piece have set the standard for the practice in Australia from which others can learn.

This book explores the historical and archaeological evidence of the relationships between a coastal community and the shipwrecks that have occurred along the southern Australian shoreline over the last 160 years. It moves beyond a focus on shipwrecks as events and shows the short and long term economic, social and symbolic significance of wrecks and strandings to the people on the shoreline. This volume draws on extensive oral histories, documentary and archaeological research to examine the tensions within the community, negotiating its way between its roles as shipwreck saviours and salvors.

Published in Association with the Western Australian Museum 'Swallowed by the Sea' tells the stories of Australia's greatest and most tragic shipwrecks, lost in raging storms, on jagged reefs, under enemy fire, or through human error, treachery or incompetence. It includes wrecks from all corners of Australia, from 1622 to as recently as 2010, from clipper ships to colonial schooners to East Indiamen. Read about the oldest known wreck in Australian waters, the Tryal, driven into a maze of sunken rocks by the inept Captain Brookes, and about the loss of emigrant barque Cataraqui, which struck a reef off King Island in the middle of a stormy night, drowning more than 400 people. The violent wrecking of ships is only part of the story. Maritime archaeologist Graeme Henderson has personally located and dived many of the shipwrecks in this book. Alongside his accounts are colour underwater photographs of the dive sites with specially written recollections by members of the diving crew.

An invaluable guide for maritime archeologists, recreational divers, historians and others interested in the drama adventure and romance of Western Australia's rich maritime history.