00:02An enduring mystery lies beneath this murky pool near Busselton.
00:06There it is, I found it.
00:11Yeah, that is the Biosbogum.
00:14The archaeological hunt for the elusive deadwater wreck is as old as British colonial rule in this region.
00:21People love stories.
00:23They love stories about shipwrecks.
00:25They love stories about treasure.
00:26They love stories about mystery.
00:28And when you've got all of that wrapped up into one package, which is the deadwater wreck,
00:33it's something that just keeps going on and on.
00:36The deadwater has been lost for more than a century, but the search continues to this day.
00:41It began with colonial eyewitnesses, which included explorer and surveyor Francis Thomas Gregory's published account from 1846.
00:51The remains of a vessel of considerable tonnage have been discovered in a shallower street near the Vass Inlet.
00:57I should judge to have been wrecked more than 200 years ago.
01:02It was rumoured to be a Dutch ship, but Ian McCann believes it's an American whaling vessel,
01:07and even with modern equipment, this latest search finds no sign of the long-lost vessel.
01:14The interesting artefacts found over the years have ended up at the WA Maritime Museum,
01:18but nothing has been proven as evidence of a pre-colonial ship.
01:23There probably is, you know, something there, but, you know, until we find something conclusive or definite,
01:28we just don't really have any clue.
01:30This is where I reckon...
01:32Nevertheless, it still captivates people like Helen McCall,
01:35who spent years researching the folklore around the wreck.
01:38It was the treasure, yes, or the thought that there may be treasure, a Dutch ship.
01:44Researchers say this legend has grown a life of its own,
01:47fuelled by combined sightings of wrecks across this area.
01:50But for now, the Deadwater Wreck's secrets will remain buried beneath the mud.
01:54The Deadwater Wreck's secrets will remain buried beneath the mud.
