Life upon the sand

Water, water everywhere.


The sea mound complex known as Kenn Reefs is located in the Australian Commonwealth Territory of the Coral Sea and in the midst of a shipping route known as the Outer Route.

There are at least 8 mid-19th century vessels reported to have come to grief upon the reefs. Accounts tell of incredible survival, rescue and escape. A team from the Queensland Museum investigated the location in the late 1980s and discovered 9 sites along the southern edge of the reef.

Thirty years later a collaborative expedition between the Silentworld Foundation and Australian National Maritime Museum returned to the reefs in January 2017. The survey revealed an additional 4 sites while the post-fieldwork research assigned all known vessels to their respective wreck sites.

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