Just west of Warrnambool, along the windswept coast of southwest Victoria, there's a mystery that’s been buried—literally—for nearly two centuries. A vanished vessel. A dark timber hull. A ghost ship that seems to appear and disappear with the tide of time.

They call it the Mahogany Ship.

Some say it was a Portuguese caravel from the 1520s, wrecked on this shore long before Cook or the Dutch ever reached our shores. Others believe it was a colonial schooner, misremembered and misplaced. But one thing is certain: for nearly 200 years, people have claimed to see it, search for it, or swear it was there—only for it to vanish again beneath the shifting sands.

In this episode, we’re chasing Australia’s greatest maritime mystery. We’ll walk the beaches, scour the archives, and ask: Was there really a forgotten ship buried on this coast? And if so… what happened to it?

This is the story of the Mahogany Ship—and why we’re still looking for it.

Today, we’re flipping the focus—from archaeology to artistry.

Our guest is someone who doesn’t just see the ocean… he listens to it. Frames it. Waits for its moods. And somehow captures its wildest moments with stillness and soul.

Patrick Baker is one of archaeology’s most celebrated underwater photographers. His work has taken him from coral reefs glowing with life to wrecks swallowed by time. His images have graced magazines, galleries, exhibitions, books —and probably your Instagram feed. But behind the breathtaking beauty is a storyteller’s eye for moments that resonate.

In this episode, we delve into the life and career of the man behind the lens from Liverpool to Western Australia. We talk moments that he will never forget, wrecks he’s worked on around the world and how the ocean called to him from early on. We explore what it means to witness the ocean—not just as a diver or a photographer, but as someone who returns again and again, hoping to see the sea reveal just a little more of itself. He even brings me to tears at one point.

And as you will soon find out – we jumped into this early and I loved it so much I couldn’t cut it short.

So grab a coffee—or something stronger —and join me as we head west, and underwater, with Patrick Baker.

Today, we’re diving into one of history’s most chilling maritime disasters—the wreck of Batavia. A story of shipwreck, mutiny, and unimaginable brutality. In 1629, Batavia ran aground off the Abrolhos Islands, and what followed was one of the darkest chapters in Australian maritime history. Over 125 men, women, and children were murdered. But this isn’t just a story of disaster—it’s one of greed, survival, and a decades-long archaeological quest to piece together the truth.

Introduction to the podcast and host Dr Maddy McAllister.

Jeremy Green is one of the OG shipwreck detectives of Australia. For over 5 decades, Jeremy led the maritime archaeology department at the Western Australian Museum. From pioneering underwater metal detectors in the Mediterranean to excavating Australia's most infamouc shipwreck, Batavia, he has seen it all. 

Jeremy’s influence in Australia, Asia and Europe is a true indication of the impact his career and knowledge has had on the field of maritime archaeology. In this episode we discuss his beginnings at Oxford and the mediterranean, the wild west of Australia in the 1970s, fighting for underwater wreck protection and what has changed in the lifetime of his career.