Overview

• WA Museum archaeologists working with the Shipwreck Hunters Australia crew confirmed the SS Rodondo (1894) and the Langstone (1902) off Esperance and Cape Naturaliste.
• The searches combined deep archival research with magnetometers, side-scan sonar, seabed mapping and specialist diving across six expeditions in rough, remote waters.
• Both sites are automatically protected under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act, which bars removing material and requires reporting discoveries to authorities.
• Historical accounts note Rodondo survivors reached Salisbury Island after striking Pollock Reef, while the Langstone went down in a storm with one later death among its crew.
• Season 2 of Shipwreck Hunters Australia debuts Wednesday on Disney+, with the team highlighting conservation and even reconnecting a Rodondo survivor’s descendant to their family story.