Researchers Accidentally Discover 128-Year-Old Shipwreck

Scientists conducting a routine survey of the waters along Australia's east coast got more than they bargained for when they accidentally discovered a 128-year-old shipwreck.

Their encounter with the sunken Carlisle, which sank in 1890, was captured on camera, and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has released footage showing an aerial view of the wreckage, teeming with schools of fish.

The researchers were mapping the seafloor of Bass Strait, which separates mainland Australia from the island of Tasmania, to improve nautical charts for the major shipping route, according to Mashable. During a scan of the waters, the sunken ship showed up as a "blip," ABC reports.

"We just happened to go over this blip, and we noticed it, and thought, 'Oh jeez, that looks just a little too much like a shipwreck,' and so we did a little bit more investigating and looked at it digitally," CSIRO hydrographer Matt Boyd told ABC. "Then once we established that yes, it was a shipwreck, we put a drop camera down."

Volunteers from the Maritime Archaeological Association of Victoria then went to the site and confirmed that the ship was indeed the Carlisle. It most likely collided with rocks while sailing from Melbourne to Newcastle, where it was supposed to pick up coal on its way to South America. All 23 crew members survived, escaping on three life boats.

The researchers discovered two more shipwrecks during a weeklong expedition from Brisbane to Hobart, one of which was identified as the HMAS Pioneer, a ship built for the British Royal Navy in 1900 that was scuttled in 1931.

[h/t ABC]