SCUBA Training for our MAC Ranger Partners

On 23 April 2024, five Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation Rangers took their first ocean dive as part of gaining an PADI Open Water Diver qualification, at Withnell Bay, Murujuga, in the Pilbara, north Western Australia. Funding for the training was provided by the Australian Government through an Australian Research Council grant awarded to Dr John McCarthy of Flinders University and the Deep History of Sea Country team to investigate the uses of technology in searching for submerged heritage sites, including by Traditional Owners and Custodians (Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, DE220100550). While other Rangers were diving, Dr McCarthy, Assistant Ranger Services Manager Peter Cooper and Ranger Glen Aubrey used an underwater remote operated vehicle (ROV) fitted with a camera to see what the divers were up to!

Author: Deep History of Sea Country: Climate, Sea Level and Culture

This is our official project blog for the Deep History of Sea Country: Climate, Sea Level and Culture. Our project is funded by the Australian Research Council (DP170100812) and our official webpage is: http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehl/archaeology/seacountry.cfm Submerged landscape archaeology is an under-researched field in Australia and represents a major opportunity to address knowledge gaps in world prehistory such as early human migrations, the archaeology of land bridges and coastal-hinterland cultural exchange.