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08/03/2005: "Shipwreck: THE SUN .............Northern Coral Sea"

Relatively close to the borber between Australian and Papua New Guinea, in the northern region of The Coral Sea are a pair of coral reefs.

Ashmore Reef and Eastern Fields are not include on dive tourism itineries, being still a little too remote for visits, but yatchs en-route to Murray Island may call in.

At the northern corner of Ashmore Reef is an ancient shipwreck, positioned near a ledge which drops onto a shelf 40 meters below, and then falls away into presumeably very deep water.

It was interesting country with hump head maori wrasse and tuna. The sort of place where anything could swim by if you were in the water long enough.

The shipwreck scattered in shallower water is The Sun and has a connection to an early white settler, Frank Jardine of Cape York and his long-lost treasure of gold.

Shipwreck explorer Ben Cropp believes the two large iron anchors (pictured) were sitting on the deck of the ship - the timber having long since rotted away, which would explain why they are elevated from the surrounding flat coral platform.

There can be an eirie feeling around such a tragic site - which, in it's era, would have been equivilent to an airline crash of today. Bit's and pieces scattered everywhere. Time was against our brief visit as we were heading for Murray Island to film turtle hunters at work. We'd definately enjoy a return visit one day.