Notes from AHOY February 2025

For our February AHOY we were so grateful for the fantastic and thought provoking guest lecture provided by Hiroshi Ishii from Maritime Asia Heritage Survey on "Japanese Heritage in Tonoas, Chuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia: An American Battlefield Protection Program by the University of Guam". Some incredible work has been done by the Program! It was well worth attending, but here are some links if you'd like to know more:

• A wonderful story map of Tonoas, Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon during World War II, part of a an American Battlefield Protection Program project that aims to reveal the holistic heritage associated with and impacted by World War II. This map provides an historic overview and the locations the 93 cultural heritage sites on, and around Tonoas and Etten with additional links to resources.
  
• A YouTube video about Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon's vibrant marine habitats

Discussion

• We're excited for the many archaeology conferences this year! A reminder that the IKUWA8 Conference is in Oostende, Belgium, 13-17 October 2025 and the 10th World Archaeological Congress in Darwin 22-28 June 2025. Check out more below about AIMA's maritime session at WAC-10!
• We discussed the pros and cons of underwater scooters. Great for a little assist in surge but not so great if you need your hands for other equipment!
• Liam caught us all up on his diving in Victoria over the holidays, especially Tommy Dodd and Janet which are more recent discoveries still requiring research and recording.
• A WWII Beaufort bomber was found in Darwin Harbour by the Australian Hydrographic Office. There are plenty of articles online but here is one from Plane Historia.
• Concerning news from the U.S. for maritime archaeology and submerged landscapes: The Senator for Louisiana is introduced a resolution to reverse a Biden administration rule essentially again reducing requirements for oil and gas leaseholders on the outer continental shelf to issue an archaeological report before production begins. More here.

AIMA Updates

• John Waskiw, the AIMA Social Media admin, is asking for content about wreck dives that AIMA members have undertaken. He is asking for a short written piece and a photo for him to share on AIMA's Facebook and Instagram pages and to share with diving group pages. The piece can include the reason for your dive, some history, access notes, and any observations. Bonus points if it promotes ethical behaviour while diving shipwrecks and/or citizen science monitoring of shipwreck condition (or even a little note about legislative protection). John is best contacted through the AIMA Facebook or Instagram pages, or by emailing  seaslug89@gmail.com or socialmedia@aima-underwater.org.au.
• AIMA is chairing a maritime archaeology session at WAC-10! The call for papers is open until 31 March 2025. To submit your paper abstract (up to 200 words),  please click here and be sure to clearly identify our session: "Exploring the Depths: Maritime Archaeology Across the Globe". Do reach out to Danielle ( president@aima-underwater.org.au), Natali ( Natali.Pearson@sydney.edu.au) or John ( john.mccarthy@flinders.edu.au) with any questions.
• Reminder to submit your papers to the Australasian Journal for Maritime Archaeology for the 2025 edition and to submit content to the AIMA Newsletter by 12th of March 2025
• As AIMA is an accredited NGO to the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, we are invited to attend a series of hybrid UNESCO events hosted in Paris in June 2025 including a meeting of the NGOs, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body meeting and the Members of State Parties meeting. We will also be applying to renew our NGO status.
• The AIMA Executive are planning to hold AIMA's AGM in early October as a separate event to the AIMA conference with AAA in December. The AGM will be hybrid and held in Hobart alongside free public lectures and optional museum tours. More information will be released soon!
• Natali has put out a call for ideas for National Archaeology Week! NAW is held 18-24 May 2025 and AIMA would love to host a panel or similar hybrid or online event. Please contact Natali (Natali.Pearson@sydney.edu.au) with any topic, speaker or panelist ideas. A tentative suggestion has been made to host a panel about WWII shipwrecks.
• A reminder that a new Calendar page has been added to the AIMA website which lists all our meeting dates, deadlines, and upcoming conferences and events. It also now has a schedule of the AHOY guest lectures planned for the year so put them in your diary!
• AIMA's next Strategic Plan Update meeting will be on Monday 24th February at 6:30pm AEDT ( you can download a calendar placeholder). More information and a Zoom link will be sent shortly.
• If you are a current AIMA member and you are not receiving the AHOY email links or the Newsletter or AJMA release last month, please contact me (president@aima-underwater.org.au) or Aurora, the AIMA Secretary (secretary@aima-underwater.org.au). We're aware of a technical issue effecting emails sent from the website (but not emails sent the regular way) and we will ensure you are forwarded any news until it is fixed.

The next AHOY meeting will be on Monday 10th of March with a guest presentation by Aurora Philpin from the Western Australian Museum on "Deep sea shipwrecks of the Rottnest Ships' Graveyard". See you there!