Latest news with #WesternAustralianMuseum
Perth Now
6 days ago
- General
- Perth Now
Relic from infamous WA shipwreck to get new home
It withstood war, treacherous seas, and decades of unfortunate events — now, a relic from one of WA's most infamous shipwrecks has dropped anchor in Wanneroo. The last surviving lifeboat from the SS Alkimos, which the nearby suburb takes its name from, has been acquired by the City of Wanneroo. The SS Alkimos, a merchant ship and former wartime transport vessel built in the US during World War II, met its fate along the WA coastline in 1964 after running aground while being towed. Your local paper, whenever you want it. Since then, the vessel has captured the imagination of both historians and locals, becoming a lasting symbol in WA's maritime history. The SS Alkimos in January 1964. Credit: Stan Perkins / Western Australian Museum Originating as the Viggo Hansteen under Norwegian ownership, the ship has long been associated with tragic events, including a fatal accident during construction that claimed several workers. A murder-suicide also occurred on board in 1944, further fuelling the local legends that surround the vessel and its legacy. The ship ran aground off New Zealand in 1952, was sold and renamed SS Alkimos in 1953, and after striking a reef near WA in 1963 it was towed for repairs but ultimately driven ashore again when its tug line snapped. In the 60 years since the ship ran aground, much of the SS Alkimos has been salvaged, while the unrelenting conditions of the Indian Ocean have worn down what's left, leaving little visible above the water. All that remains of the SS Alkimos wreck above water. Credit: Wanneroo Museum As time and these elements erode what remains of the ship — now resting about 410m offshore — efforts to preserve what was saved from the wreck have become increasingly significant. With the goal of preserving an important piece of WA and the city's maritime history, the City of Wanneroo acquired the lifeboat last week from a private owner who had cherished it for decades. City of Wanneroo Regional Museum curator Alana Part said the city hoped to create a special exhibition on the SS Alkimos, with the lifeboat as the centrepiece, after an assessment by a conservator to explore potential restoration work. 'We're very excited to have it in the collection and to be able to share it with the community,' Ms Part said. '(The lifeboat) helps us enrich the museum collection. It allows us to tell stories about the Alkimos with something really concrete that we didn't have before. 'In the future, there'll be people that ask questions when we can no longer see the Alkimos, and it's completely underwater. These will be the last remaining things we have from such an important shipwreck.' City of Wanneroo Regional Museum curator Alana Part with the lifeboat. Credit: City of Wanneroo Despite its age, Ms Part said the lifeboat was in a 'surprisingly good' condition. 'One of the things the owner said to us when we were acquiring it was that it's still seaworthy,' Ms Part said. 'We weren't expecting much because, obviously, knowing the state of the Alkimos and the fact that it's been exposed to elements, and it's been well used throughout the years, but it's actually been well looked after. 'It's about seven metres long and 2.5 metres wide, so it's pretty huge.' The lifeboat is said to be in surprisingly good condition and still seaworthy, despite its age. Credit: Supplied Given its history plagued by misfortune, the ship is considered by many to be cursed. In the years immediately after the SS Alkimos running aground, around 12 salvage attempts were made. All failed, with several fires breaking out during scrapping. Some divers reported hearing phantom footsteps onboard, and there were reports the skull of a missing swimmer was found lodged at the wreck site — despite the swimmer disappearing around 43km south of the ship. After the SS Alkimos ran aground, it was scrapped over the coming years. Credit: Wanneroo Community History Centre Ms Part said these legends were an important part of the ship's legacy and hopes they will be shared with future generations. 'Anyone who has had something to do with the SS Alkimos always has a story to tell, which we love about it. We document all of those, and I'm sure in a future exhibition we'll be able to explore some of them,' she said. 'The next step for us is we're going to be contacting the Australian National Maritime Museum to apply to have it registered on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.' Wanneroo mayor Linda Aitken said it was essential to protect this artifact for future generations and was excited to see how the lifeboat could help the community interpret the past and learn through history. 'It's wonderful to have secured the last surviving lifeboat from the SS Alkimos — an important piece of WA's maritime history and a link to the city's own coastal heritage,' Ms Aitken said. 'The preservation and future exhibition of the lifeboat will offer our community an opportunity to connect with the stories of our coastline, including the story of the SS Alkimos shipwreck.'
The Age
28-04-2025
- General
- The Age
Museum's biggest exhibition yet will be a windfall for WA
Some of the world's greatest ancient archeological finds are embarking on a 7600-kilometre journey to be displayed in the biggest exhibition ever held by the Western Australian Museum. Farmers in 1974 first discovered China's terracotta warriors in the Shaanxi province. The figures represent the armies of Qin Shihuang, the country's first emperor, who reigned for a decade between 220 and 210 BCE. More than 8000 of the statues, which also guard Shihuang's tomb, attract more than two million visitors annually. Eight of them will soon be placed on a plane to Perth to crown a world-exclusive exhibition on the Qin dynasty that will attract interstate and international visitors, says WA Museum Boola Bardip chief executive Alec Coles. Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor will feature 230 artefacts including the warriors, some of which were only recently unearthed and have never been seen before, even in their home country. But the road to organising the exhibition has been long, blocked from being logistically possible for years due to the pandemic, and requiring a careful trust-building process with the artefacts' custodians. Coles said the idea first struck him after meeting with people working at the Emperor Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum, at a conference in China in 2018. After making good progress, the pandemic placed negotiations on hold in 2020. Three years later, Coles and a team from WA flew back to China to sign a deal that got the idea up and running again. Delegates from China then visited WA to check out the museum space. Finally, a team is giving the artefacts a final check over and packing them up to finally fly west. 'It has been an immense undertaking but obviously worthwhile,' Coles said. 'We had to build up trust before dealing with unique material like the warriors. About 40 per cent of the exhibited items have never been outside of China.' Coles said one of his favourite pieces to be included, outside the terracotta warriors, was a bronze swan, one of 57 bronze waterbirds discovered among the warriors. 'When delegates from China came to Perth they were really impressed by our black swans,' Coles said. 'We took them to the zoo for a day out, and we had one of WA's emblems following us around the whole time. 'It felt like a sign.' Coles said the exhibition would be the museum's most significant ever and would take a month for setup alone, not including building custom display cases, and designing graphics and a digital show to accompany the pieces. Coles said the digital aspect was part of what made the exhibition unique, including massive projections and augmented reality. Its design is already well under way, with Coles joking that the true test of its readiness being if he could use it without breaking it. Loading 'My favourite part is the section titled 'the enduring mystery of Shihuang's tomb,'' he said. 'His tomb has never been opened. There is concern about damaging it, but more significantly it is believed to be booby-trapped. 'This digital display explores what the inside of his tomb might look like and they ways it has been protected.' Coles said Perth was the right place in Australia to host the artefacts, highlighting China's ties with the state. 'It's very exciting, and I feel privileged and humbled by the trust shown,' he said.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-04-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Museum's biggest exhibition yet will be a windfall for WA
Some of the world's greatest ancient archeological finds are embarking on a 7600-kilometre journey to be displayed in the biggest exhibition ever held by the Western Australian Museum. Farmers in 1974 first discovered China's terracotta warriors in the Shaanxi province. The figures represent the armies of Qin Shihuang, the country's first emperor, who reigned for a decade between 220 and 210 BCE. More than 8000 of the statues, which also guard Shihuang's tomb, attract more than two million visitors annually. Eight of them will soon be placed on a plane to Perth to crown a world-exclusive exhibition on the Qin dynasty that will attract interstate and international visitors, says WA Museum Boola Bardip chief executive Alec Coles. Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor will feature 230 artefacts including the warriors, some of which were only recently unearthed and have never been seen before, even in their home country. But the road to organising the exhibition has been long, blocked from being logistically possible for years due to the pandemic, and requiring a careful trust-building process with the artefacts' custodians. Coles said the idea first struck him after meeting with people working at the Emperor Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum, at a conference in China in 2018. After making good progress, the pandemic placed negotiations on hold in 2020. Three years later, Coles and a team from WA flew back to China to sign a deal that got the idea up and running again. Delegates from China then visited WA to check out the museum space. Finally, a team is giving the artefacts a final check over and packing them up to finally fly west. 'It has been an immense undertaking but obviously worthwhile,' Coles said. 'We had to build up trust before dealing with unique material like the warriors. About 40 per cent of the exhibited items have never been outside of China.' Coles said one of his favourite pieces to be included, outside the terracotta warriors, was a bronze swan, one of 57 bronze waterbirds discovered among the warriors. 'When delegates from China came to Perth they were really impressed by our black swans,' Coles said. 'We took them to the zoo for a day out, and we had one of WA's emblems following us around the whole time. 'It felt like a sign.' Coles said the exhibition would be the museum's most significant ever and would take a month for setup alone, not including building custom display cases, and designing graphics and a digital show to accompany the pieces. Coles said the digital aspect was part of what made the exhibition unique, including massive projections and augmented reality. Its design is already well under way, with Coles joking that the true test of its readiness being if he could use it without breaking it. Loading 'My favourite part is the section titled 'the enduring mystery of Shihuang's tomb,'' he said. 'His tomb has never been opened. There is concern about damaging it, but more significantly it is believed to be booby-trapped. 'This digital display explores what the inside of his tomb might look like and they ways it has been protected.' Coles said Perth was the right place in Australia to host the artefacts, highlighting China's ties with the state. 'It's very exciting, and I feel privileged and humbled by the trust shown,' he said.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Disturbing discovery made in Australia
A massive two year project has led to scientists identifying 55 new species of Australian wishbone spiders. Unlike your regular household spider, these species come from the same family as giant tarantulas and funnel-webs, as they dig burrows to catch their prey. These burrows are lined with silk and shaped like a wishbone - hence 'wishbone spiders'. The wishbone burrows also resemble the letter Y, with one leg providing an entrance to the borrow while the other remains hidden to provide protection. The research spanned across mainland Australia made possible by a collaboration from Western Australian Museum, Queensland Museum and Western Australia. To provide some reassurance for arachnophobes, most of the spiders will not be found near people as the fieldwork took scientists to remote ecosystems. The 55 new species of Aname are identified as part of a landmark research paper which explores the new additions. Notably, A. eddieorum is named after the Eddie family who eun the ecological consulting company 'Boobook' and which is named after Project Manager Melina Lawrence. The new identifications makes wishbone spiders one of the most expansive and diverse groups of spiders throughout the nation. Spider fanatics have more to look forward to as lead author Dr Jeremy Wilson based at The University of Western Australia said that despite the progress of the research, approximately 60 per cent of Aname species remain unidentified as they inhabit remote or arid regions of Australia. 'With this study, we're not only revealing the immense diversity of wishbone spiders, but we're also shedding light on the incredible biodiversity of Australia's more remote ecosystems,' Dr Wilson said. 'We made some amazing observations about the burrowing behaviour of these secretive spiders on two major field trips in Queensland. Then, in the lab we were able to identify differences in their physical appearance and even in their DNA. We studied all of these lines of evidence to identify which species were new to science'. 'This work is just another contribution towards mapping the amazing richness of Australia's arachnid fauna.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Mysterious' new Aussie spider discovered inside 'strange' burrow near outback creek
Deep in outback Australia, a group of scientists has discovered a mysterious new type of spider. Only 12 species of Kwonkan spider have been officially described and little is known about why each type fashions itself a unique and "strange-looking" burrow. The new spider, named Kwonkan nemoralis, was found during an expedition to Western Australia's remote Kimberley region. Arachnologist Dr Jeremy Wilson didn't find it in the dry grassy savannahs the region is known for, but deep down in a gorge that shelters lush rainforest. 'These wetter patches of forest are only small, and they're usually in areas that are sheltered by the gorge. When you go into them it's an entirely different environment. It's wet, and there's a whole different series of plants,' he said. 'We were walking along a little creek line and it was in its sandy banks that we started seeing these small, circular burrows.' The burrow built by Kwonkan nemoralis was encircled by grains of sand held together with silk, and it was unlike anything Wilson had seen. The moment the burrow's rim is disturbed it collapses and closes over the burrow, and the sand blends in with the rest of the landscape making the entrance virtually invisible. 'Kwonkan are an understudied and mysterious group of spiders… One of the questions we often ask ourselves is why they build these strange trapdoors and modified entrances,' Wilson said. Related: Millions amazed by man's 'special' encounter with spider One hypothesis about the spider burrows is that they act as a tool to avoid predation while simultaneously helping them access food. 'If they begin to specialise on a certain prey type it could lead them to build a burrow that opens at a particular region. Some of them might go up the side of trees if it gives them access to a certain type of prey that's moving along the bark,' Wilson said. Many of the homes created by Kwonkan species are surrounded by collars of pebbles, but others have large turrets that stretch up into spinifex grass. The purpose-built structures are likely useful at keeping the spiders dry during flood events, which can happen suddenly in arid areas. ☠️ Anger as Anthony Albanese accused of signing endangered species' 'death warrant' 🌳 Simple solution to protect migrating Aussie bird as numbers plummet 🐨 Koala wearing mysterious devices on busy road sparks concern Kwonkan nemoralis is around the size of a 20-cent coin, but little is known of its behaviour. In general the female spiders spend their lives inside burrows and are rarely seen, while males disperse when they reach adulthood in search of a mate, and then die after breeding is complete. Specimens of Kwonkan nemoralis was collected during an expedition in 2022. It was one of two new species described by the team led by Wilson, who is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Western Australia and a research associate of the Western Australian Museum. The results were published in the Australian Journal of Taxonomy this month. The other was Kwonkan fluctellus which was described using specimens held by the Western Australian Museum. Wilson has revealed that details of more spiders in the genus will soon be announced. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
