'Carpark Whalers' dig underway

The hunt to find two whaling ships wrecked in Bunbury in the 1800s began yesterday when WA Museum archaeologists started an excavation on Koombana Drive.

Picture by David Bailey

You can follow the progress of the excavation, including videos, here

A joint project between the City of Bunbury and the WA Museum, the eight-day dig aims to uncover the final resting places of the US whaling ships Samuel Wright and North America.

WA Museum department of maritime archaeology curator Ross Anderson said he was hopeful the dig would also uncover a host of artefacts.

The huge team of marine archaeologists, material conservationists and other consulting archaeologists began their dig at 6.30am working from maps drawn up by The Reverend John Wollaston in the 1840s and the results of magnetic and ground-penetrating radar surveys to locate the two ships.

City of Bunbury heritage planning officer Leigh Barrett said it was exciting the dig was under way after years of preparation.

Mr Anderson said he was confident the crew would identify the ships and begin excavating and recording what was found in the coming days.

Those interested in the ship wrecks will be able to take part in public tours from Wednesday until Sunday, but for safety reasons the site is fenced and access outside the tours is restricted.