Diving Western Australia’s Shipwrecks is a self-funded initiative started in 2014 by local diver David Jackson and supported by Jacqui McGhie. David has held committee and executive positions with the Maritime Archaeological Association of Western Australia (MAAWA) since 2016 and in his profession, specialises as a vessel master, coordinating remote access expeditions and vessel operations on the West Australian coast, specializing in the far north Kimberley region.
Diving WA Shipwrecks, as a small-scale unit, specialises in visiting and recording near shore shipwrecks and maritime heritage in rarely visited, remote locations. Often working in high energy and low visibility environments, they have documented over 121 shipwrecks and historical sites from the northern edge of Australian territorial waters to the south coast of Western Australia. Their results, inspections and documentation are often forwarded to the WA Maritime Museum. Their Batavia dataset, modelled by Curtin University HIVE, features in the new Boola Bardip Museum of Western Australia and their entire catalogue of 106 photogrammetry models have been donated to the state of Western Australia’s museum collection. Dave's work is consistently featured in the ShipwrecksWA app by MAAWA, he has collaborated with the WreckSploration team and has participated in fieldwork with the Maritime Archaeology Department of the WA Museum. Amongst other discoveries, Divingwawrecks featured as a co-discover of the recently located K XI submarine located south of Rottnest Island. Our mapping and media is shared and utilised by the dive community to promote local diving and our efforts have been featured in the media, contributing 3D modelling to the Disney production "Shipwreck Hunters Australia S2 E2" and our work on the Broome Flying boats has been featured by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) amongst numerous other shipwreck stories and features for both national and state media outlets over the last decade.
Diving WA Shipwrecks seeks to promote and document Western Australia’s rich maritime heritage making sites accessible to the public through social media and an active webpage. Through their online presence they prioritise to promote the safe access, ethical and legal visitation of historical sites.
Dave and Jacqui are both avid SCUBA divers who have been diving together for over 20 years. Together they share a passion for exploring the amazing Western Australian coastline. With such a remote and inhospitable coast right on our doorstep, much of which is difficult to access, they are constantly searching for and finding new stories of old histories and lesser visited wrecks. Both Jacqui and Dave are qualified Divemasters, have AIMA (Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology) qualifications and have a background in the maritime industry. Dave holds a commercial vessel master qualification and has years of experience as the master of dive charter vessels off Perth and as the master of expedition and patrol vessels in Western Australia. Jacqui also has a background in marine tourism with experience working in a Divemaster and guiding role and has also worked and travelled extensively throughout Western Australia. Jacqui works professionally in the field of Conservation and is also an accomplished wildlife photographer who has been published in various books, media and exhibitions.
They spend months of the year when not engaged in employment, travelling the state in their 4WD and their two boats trying access the more remote parts of the state soaking in the beautiful and rugged coastline that has claimed so many ships and sailors over the last four centuries.
Much of the information obtained in writing for the historical shipwrecks of this page have come from the Maritime Museum online database and various other online sources listed in the references link. Various publications are also used and are included in the library link on the home page, listed by title with credit to the authors. Please take the time to reference these links if looking to read more into WA's maritime history.