Leo's Story

By James Hunter

Towards the end of last year, I was approached by Anthony Gordon and Nathan Carter about participating in an episode of Aliquam 3, a fantastic 10-part series that follows 10 young people who dive for the first time in the oceans of Australia and New Zealand. I first met Anthony at the OZTek Expo in Melbourne in October, where I attended his talk about the Aliquam series, and he in turn attended talks by me and fellow museum maritime archaeologist Kieran Hosty that addressed our ongoing research related to the shipwreck sites of South Australian and HMB Endeavour. What followed were a series of catchups in Sydney over coffee that culminated in a classic ‘what-if’ query: What if one of the kids taking part in Aliquam 3 had an interest in maritime archaeology and wanted to have a go at surveying a shipwreck or other underwater cultural heritage? Would Kieran and I be willing to show them around the museum, chat about our respective roles, and show them some of the documentation methods we use on underwater sites?

As luck would have it, one of the kids did have an interest: Leo, the 12-year-old son of a marine scientist at the University of New South Wales who has long been fascinated by the ocean, as well as maritime history and archaeology. Kieran and I arranged for Leo to visit the museum, where we showed him maritime archaeology-themed exhibits (such as the Endeavour cannon and HMS Sirius anchor in the Navy Gallery) and took him aboard the Endeavour replica. The visit also provided Anthony and Nathan an opportunity to collect footage and conduct interviews for Leo’s Aliquam 3 episode. During the shoot, we were joined by Heather Berry, a maritime archaeological conservator from the Silentworld Foundation who chatted with Leo about conservation of artefacts recovered from marine environments. She too was interviewed for the Aliquam episode and provided insight about this critical, but frequently unacknowledged, aspect of preserving underwater cultural heritage.

The following morning, Kieran, Heather, and I met Anthony, Nathan, and the filmmaking crew at Sydney’s Chowder Bay. Leo, his family, and diving instructor Sam James were also there, and we immediately set about discussing the dive plan and setting up our equipment. The primary objective was for Leo to undertake his first dive, with a secondary goal of documenting an historic anchor partially buried in the seabed a short distance offshore. Like all fledgling divers, Leo took a bit of time to get his buoyancy and bearings just right, but from that point onwards quickly gained confidence and comfort in the water. As someone who also learned to dive at a young age—I was 10 years old when I commenced scuba certification training—I marvelled at how quickly he adapted to being underwater, and it brought back fond memories.

Once Leo’s checkout dive was completed, we had the opportunity to inspect and document the anchor. Leo helped me take measurements of the anchor’s exposed components—including its iron stock and part of the shank—and then had a go at taking digital video and photographs. He very quickly got the hang of these tasks and before long was inspecting the anchor on his own and capturing photographs like a pro!

It was a joy and honour to be present for Leo’s inaugural dives and see someone so young showing such an immense interest in, and passion for, the underwater world and submerged cultural heritage. He and the other Aliquam kids are the future custodians of our oceans, and based on what I’ve seen, those oceans will be in very capable and caring hands!