Matthew Flinders and Bungaree by Helen Tiernan from her series ‘Heroes of Colonial Encounters’. ANMM Collection 00055144 and 00055142.

Blog

Curious about what goes on at the museum? These blogs give you an inside peek.

Discover stories behind the latest exhibitions, fascinating explorations into maritime science and archaeology, and the surprising details of what happens inside (and outside) a modern working museum.

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Sailors' weather lore - myth or meterology? Image: moisseyev/istock.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight?

23 Mar 2019

Sailors' weather lore — myth or meteorology? When European sailors began arriving on Australian shores, they brought with them a host of sayings about the weather. What truth was there in these, and were any of them relevant to conditions in the southern hemisphere?

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Johanna Goggins is one of the Irish famine orphans who is inscribed on the Welcome Wall. Image: Kim Tao/ANMM.

Remembering the Irish famine orphans

17 Mar 2019

Today some 80 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, including an estimated seven million Australians. For St Patrick’s Day, we take a look at the story of the destitute Irish orphans who arrived in Australia 170 years ago at the height of the Great Famine.

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Piecing together a 200 million year puzzle. Image: MNF/CSIRO

Investigating a rocky relationship

15 Mar 2019

Australia is surrounded by deep, mysterious oceans. The RV Investigator to explores these depths. But who is conducting the groundbreaking science on board? Enter Dr Joanne Whittaker, marine geophysicist, and Dr Rebecca Carey, volcanologist. Together they are gathering data to unlock the ancient history of the sea floor...

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When going to the beach required pyjamas

11 Mar 2019

There's a reason people are still so fascinated with the art deco style of the 1920s and 1930s...  Take these stylish 'beach pyjamas' from the museum's archives, for example. Why make a trip to the seaside looking drab when you could look fabulous?

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: The author (right) and Irini Malliaros from the Silentworld Foundation use ‘old school’ methods to obtain measurements of the Admiralty Old Pattern Long-Shanked Anchor found in the shallows at Boot Reef. Image: Julia Sumerling/Silentworld Foundation.

An anchor’s secrets revealed

07 Mar 2019

In December last year, maritime archaeologists and researchers from the museum and the Silentworld Foundation conducted a shipwreck survey of Boot Reef in the Coral Sea. While searching for the wreck of the Lancashire Lass, they also discovered something at the end of a large, long chain...

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Conducting the photogrammetry survey of M24, using underwater lights. Image: Steve Trewavas.

Recording M24, the Japanese midget submarine

05 Mar 2019

For over 60 years a Japanese midget submarine lay in the waters off Newport, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. In 2017 a high resolution 3D model of M24 was produced, providing an unprecedented level of detail of the wreck. We spoke to the team leader, maritime archaeologist Matt Carter, about this exciting project.

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Scott Gustetter, swimmer, at the 2002 Gay Games. © Paul Freeman Reproduced courtesy of Paul Freeman.

Sea of Rainbow

19 Feb 2019

Black and white photographs from the 2002 Gay Games have been found hiding away in the museum closet, and now we are raising the flag for queer stories of the sea.

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The young crew aboard HMAS Voyage. Image: John Withers.

Speaking of history

12 Feb 2019

Collecting oral histories from Navy veterans has been a profoundly humbling experience for volunteer David O'Sullivan.

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Black tip reef shark. Image: Global_Pics/iStock.

Thinking about sharks

05 Feb 2019

Neuroscientist Dr Richard Gates is fascinated by the relationship between a shark's brain function and their behaviour. So, what do we know about these apex animals?

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