Diving into the waves of time

Marine archaeologists are striving to unravel and conserve an integral part of our history that lies buried deep in our seabed.


Avondster anchor being lifted out of the seabed off Galle


Money cowrie’ from the craft-wreck off Ambalangoda

Even as 96 years after, scientists are intrigued as to why the ‘Titanic’, the “unsinkable” ship sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland on a freezing, moonless night, marine archaeologists right here in Sri Lanka are attempting to unravel the mysteries surrounding some unique shipwrecks buried under the waves of time.

While the western world debates whether weak rivets were the cause of the Titanic’s doom, Sri Lankan marine archaeologists are also getting into deeper water not only to gather as much information as possible on the island-nation’s maritime heritage but also to protect them from looters who rob valuable artifacts from shipwrecks and plunderers who strip them of their iron.

How many know of the treasures of the sea that are spread around this country? “Only in those particular areas, do people know,” says Central Cultural Fund Deputy Director-General Dr. Mohan Abeyratne.

Did the wooden craft, now lying very close to the Ambalangoda coast just 20 metres away, carry pearls? Kata katha (rumour and speculation) in the area are rife that there were strange cannons wrapped in rope. The pearls are no more as are the parts of the cannons.

Speculation apart, what has been unearthed is ‘money cowrie’ (kawadi salli) which was used for barter in times when money was not in circulation, says Dr. Abeyratne, while Senior Research Officer and Maritime Archaeologist Rasika Muthucumarana adds, “The craft was most probably Indian or French.”

Although we did a few days exploration in the late nineties, regrettably we didn’t have equipment for excavations, says Mr. Muthucumarana. Early 2007, saw the Coast Conservation Department taking up the dredging of the Ambalangoda fisheries harbour, and copper plates with Arabic inscriptions have been unearthed, he explained.

Adds Dr. Abeyratne that when any development project is undertaken on land or sea, in an area which has archaeological sites, 1% of the project funding has to be given for an impact assessment to be carried out by the CCF. “This is a requirement under the Antiquities Ordinance,” he stresses, explaining that the CCF is still awaiting that 1% for exploration in Ambalangoda from the Chinese contractor.

Further along the southern coast, at the bottom of the sea off Hikkaduwa lies the very first oil-tanker, ‘S.S. Conch’, to be built in the world. This steamship, built by the British in 1892 and owned by Shell Company had been wrecked in 1903.

“Until a few years ago, when some people attempted to secure a permit to strip the iron off this vessel and the hoteliers and a few concerned people in the area took up its cause, no details were known about it,” says Dr. Abeyratne, lamenting the fact that Sri Lanka did not have the capacity for underwater excavation, explorations and conservation till very recently. The hoteliers knew of it because recreational diving was going on there and tourists were being shown this piece, he adds.

Two more wrecks in Akurala, the ‘Earl of Shaftsbury’ and another earlier unidentified wreck but now recognized as ‘Victory’ were the hands-on training sites for a group of trainers under a recent agreement signed with UNESCO to set up the Asia-Pacific School of Underwater Archaeology at the historic Galle Fort. Not only will it be a training centre but also a centre of excellence for archaeology and oceanography, Dr. Abeyratne says.

The ‘Earl of Shaftsbury’, a steel-hulled sailing ship had been wrecked in Akurala at a time it was carrying coal in 1893. “Sadly, it had been dynamited by unscrupulous persons,” said Mr. Muthucumarana.

The fate of ‘Victory’ too would have been questionable, it is learnt, as some persons had sought a permit even producing affidavits that it was the wreck of the trawler ‘Asuki Maru’ which sank only around 20 years ago, in a bid to strip off its iron. However, those challenges had been overcome and ‘Victory’ has now been identified as a steamship of a 100-year vintage.

While marine archaeologists were donning diving suits and exploring the ‘Earl of Shaftsbury’ and ‘Victory’, the first Steering Committee meeting of the Field School had also been held in April at Unawatuna with the participation of representatives from UNESCO, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France.

Davy Jones treasures in Galle alone, underwater surveys have revealed, come from 26 archaeological sites dating from the 13th to 16th century to modern times……with such artifacts as Indian-Arabian stone anchors including one from the Arabian peninsula weighing almost a tonne and a celadon bowl of the Southern Song dynasty (13th century) indicating that Sri Lanka was an important meeting point for shipping as well as trade routes.

Of course, the most famous shipwreck of Galle is Avondster (Evening Star), found very close to shore in shallow waters. The wreck was identified as the 17th century East Indiaman Avondster which had been in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the 1650s and had “in a light breeze slipped from her anchors and because of bad supervision perished” (found in VOC, Letters and papers from Asia).

Something “odd” about the construction of the ship, however, had made the archaeologists delve deeper into history to come up with the fascinating fact that the ship had been brought into the service of the VOC in 1653 after capture by the Dutch from the English East India Company in Persian waters. At capture its name had been ‘Blessing’.

According to detailed records put out in the form of a beautiful book by the Centre for International Heritage Activities, the vessel’s exact age is unknown. Firstly known as the ‘John and Thomas’ it had been bought by the British East India Company in 1641, renamed ‘Blessing’ and dispatched to Java, later deployed increasingly in regional trade.

“The starboard side (rightside) of the Avondster had been preserved well, because at that time there had been a canal flowing into the Galle harbour, now long gone, the mud from which had covered the wreck,” says Mr. Muthucumarana.

Dr. Abeyratne adds: “We are now carrying out in-situ conservation which will prevent natural erosion and scouring caused by the sea and weather; objects being moved all over the site; wood degrading organisms; looting; fishing activities and chemical degradation.”

Be it the ‘S.S. Conch’, ‘Victory’ or ‘Avondster’ an integral part of Sri Lanka’s history falls into place, with the discovery and recovery of our maritime heritage, sunken and buried for centuries in the ghostly caverns of shipwrecks and the seabed.

A chance discovery leads to maritime heritage

It was a chance discovery in 1961 near the Great Basses lighthouse in Kirinde by Mike Wilson and two companions that gave a pointer to the wealth under the sea around Sri Lanka. What did they find? It was a wreck which held in its depths among other artifacts sacks of Moghul silver coins dating back to 1702 AD minted in Surat, India.

A flurry of diving expeditions took place with eminent persons such as the late Arthur C. Clarke (he wrote a book ‘The Treasure of the Reef’ in 1974) and the late Rodney Jonklaas making an impact on treasure and artifact recovery from under the sea, says Dr. Abeyratne.

Though no one knows the details of how some of the artifacts and bundles of silver coins from the Great Basses wreck made their way to the far-off Smithsonian Institution in Washington, US, across the seas, they opened the eyes of the world to the maritime heritage of Sri Lanka, he says.

The new Maritime Museum being established in Galle would be the richer if some of the Moghul silver coins and at least replicas of artifacts recovered from the Great Basses wreck could be conserved there, says the CCF’s Deputy Director-General adding that the expertise of the preservation techniques as practised by the Smithsonian will also come in handy for Lankan conservators.

Lamenting the fact that during the early times when Lanka’s maritime heritage was being discovered the general belief was that finders could be keepers and underwater treasures were also destroyed or sold illicitly, Dr. Abeyratne said that now regulations are in place.

“We also don’t need to take all the artifacts out of the wrecks, we can develop ocean museums, he says, revealing plans to categorize all wrecks around the country into:

*

Wrecks which will cater to underwater tourism
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Wrecks of value where the public will have to be accompanied by officials of the Marine Archaeology Unit
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Other underwater sites which will only be open to researchers, under the strict guidelines of the CCF

Sri Lanka needs to show off its maritime heritage but also ensure that it is preserved for posterity, he stresses, adding that even two weeks ago silver coins were found at the Great Basses.

Take the plunge

An IT consultant with a passion for diving, Dharshana Jayawardene’s website divesrilanka.com documents the island’s underwater wealth.

The strong, healthy tan gives him away. Consultant Dharshana Jayawardena may spend his weekdays at a desk with a laptop, but it is obvious he also finds time for the outdoors and gets a regular dose of the sun and surf.


Dharshana: At home as an IT consultant as well as under water

Dharshana is the man behind www.divesrilanka.com, one of Sri Lanka’s most comprehensive websites dedicated to the subject of deep-sea diving. For the past five years, he has been drawing attention to the island’s premier dive spots with a wealth of accessible, first-hand information supported by a treasure trove of photographs.

Considering his dedication to diving, it is hard to believe Dharshana did not know how to swim when he went on his first dive. He was visiting friends in Bermuda, in the North Atlantic Ocean, when he decided to attempt a “try dive” – a brief, 10-metre ocean dive done under the supervision of experienced instructors. Dharshana recalls being almost frightened during his immersion.

Suspended underwater, in the ocean’s vastness, with only the sound of his breathing in his ear, he found the experience “uncomfortable” and “claustrophobic”. He signalled to his instructors that he had had enough and asked to be brought to the surface. A more faint-hearted person might have rejected the idea of getting into the water again for a repeat performance, but not Dharshana.

Demonstrating his characteristic determination, Dharshana decided to learn to swim. In fact, he went a step further in his effort to conquer his fear of water by getting himself certified as a PADI Open Water diver. The entry-level certification for diving comes from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.

“That was five years ago, in March 2003,” he says. Today, with more than 350 dives under his belt, Dharshana is the proud bearer of PADI Rescue Diver and PSAI Solo Diver certificates. In Sri Lanka, he has explored the waters off Negombo, Colombo, Beruwela, Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Unawatuna, Weligama, Kirinda (Great Basses), Batticaloa, and Trincomalee. Outside Sri Lanka, he has dived in the Maldives, the Similan Islands, in the Andaman Sea (off the southern coast of Thailand), off Sipadan Island in East Borneo, and off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Ribbon Reefs and in the Coral Sea.

Describing himself as “diving addict”, Dharshana hones his aquatic skills by swimming at least four days a week.“When diving, you are focused on only one thing – the dive. The world of land and its problems cease to exist. You are immersed in a silent environment without gravity. The only sound is the sound of your breathing. It’s exciting. The marine life you encounter can make the underwater environment hostile and challenging. For me, there is rarely a boring dive.”

As his passion for diving increased and as he plunged deeper into the subject, Dharshana developed an interest in underwater photography and videography. Starting with basic, relatively inexpensive photography equipment, he started to document his dives and the fascinating terrain of Sri Lanka’s ocean floors. In the course of doing research, he found that information was hard to come by, and what little he did find was spread thinly over several websites. The idea for divesrilanka.com was therefore a logical result of the diver’s quest for more knowledge.

It is a rare weekend when Dharshana and a group of fellow diving enthusiasts do not go to sea for a dive. Using small, wobbly fishing boats, they set out on their expeditions.

To hear Dharshana talk about his underwater experiences is to enter a mysterious but vivid world of light and shadow, filled with vibrantly coloured sea creatures gliding by and ponderous shipwrecks lying forgotten at the bottom of the ocean floor. He recalls dives in translucent waters teeming with huge schools of fish, giant sting rays, eagle rays, manta rays, sharks and dolphins.

“But I find the small sea creatures just as fascinating and endearing,” he says. As a photographer, he lists the dazzlingly coloured nudibranchs (also unromantically referred to as “sea slugs”) among his favourites. Dharshana devotes a lot of his time to studying the lives and ways of the underwater creatures he encounters. It is a rare denizen of the deep he cannot identify in one of his photographs.

The consultant-cum-diver is particularly drawn to the shipwrecks that lie in Sri Lankan waters. A particular favourite is the wreck of the H.M.S Hermes aircraft carrier, off Batticaloa. Dharshana has spent much time researching the wreck. “Knowing in advance the history and background of a wreck greatly enhances the experience of the dive,” he says.

Over the past five years, Dharshana has been adding to divesrilanka.com and enriching the website’s content. He receives mail from fellow diving enthusiasts around the world. While Dharshana earns his bread and butter as a consultant for a leading Colombo-based IT services firm, he runs his website for pleasure and not for monetary benefit. Typically, he updates the site within days of completing a dive, deriving much satisfaction from posting pictures and writing about each dive.

The news he posts is not always cheering. Dharshana says he is a first-hand witness of the steadily deteriorating condition of Sri Lanka’s reef systems. Increasing pollution, over-fishing and unsustainable fishing practices continue to inflict serious damage to reefs – the result of human indifference and greed, he says. He has also seen the damage caused by huge cargo ships dragging their heavy anchors through fragile coral domes – acts of “almost criminal stupidity”, he adds.

There are times when Dharshana believes all the underwater wealth and beauty he is painstakingly cataloguing is as good as doomed. But he also believes the very act of bearing witness to depredations of the ocean and sharing his observations with the world is a contribution to worldwide conservation. A modest man who would not want to give himself extra credit for what he is doing, Dharshana hopes his efforts will inspire others to dive into the conservation effort.