If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be and why?

If there is one occupation or skill set I wish I could master instantaneously, it is that required to be an underwater archaeologist.

Yes, I know your next question – ‘what the hell is that?’ Don’t archaeologists, like Indiana Jones, dig up the artefacts of ancient civilisations, fight off indigenous peoples and treasure hunters, and avoid being consumed by demonic spirits emerging from the pyramids?

Underwater archaeology opens up a whole new world, not just composed of famous shipwrecks such as the Titanic.

The Titanic sinking was a devastating loss, to be sure. No one is minimising the loss of life and destruction accompanying that incident. Immortalised by the 1997 Steven Spielberg blockbuster, and the topic of countless documentaries, the Titanic shipwreck has come to overshadow the vast area of underwater exploration and archaeology.

Each shipwreck is a time capsule – revealing details about its place in the maritime traffic and the connections between the societies joined by that trade. Consider, for instance, the SS Antilla.

Launched in 1939, the SS Antilla was a German cargo ship, intended to carry trade between Germany and the Caribbean. In July 1939, she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage. That journey, and her subsequent journey through the Caribbean, would prove to be fateful – World War 2 began in September of that year.

Unable to reach German ports, or the port of any nation allied to Nazi Germany, she headed for Dutch-controlled Curaçao, eventually docking in Aruba. Unfortunately for her crew, Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. The Dutch were now a hostile power. They had been monitoring the movement of German commercial and military ships prior to the arrival of the SS Antilla.

The Dutch approached the German ship, off the coast of Aruba. The captain of the SS Antilla, confronted by the enemy and with no prospect of outside assistance, decided to scuttle the ship.

The ship sank to the depths of the ocean in May 1940. Today, the shipwreck is a maritime tourist attraction. You may scuba dive to view the wreckage, because it is quite accessible. The Antilla helps to remind us that while we think of World War 2 as a European event, its battles and repercussions extended around the globe. Competing European powers had their eyes on the Caribbean and its resources.

There is also another aspect we need to remember about shipwrecks, including the Antilla. It is the remarkable resilience of life. Marine animals and ecosystems, while reeling from the direct impact of a sinking ship, display a remarkable ability to recuperate and even use the bare skeleton of the sunken ship as a refuge.

Not only are shipwrecks a capsule of cultural history, they quickly become a part of the marine life adapting to its presence. Corals and sea sponges have made their homes in the wreckage. Many species of fish, sea turtles and eels make their way through the sunken ship. Life continues to evolve in unexpected ways. An underwater ecosystem thrives, colonised by numerous marine organisms.

It is not just shipwrecks, and submerged airplanes, that provide artefact-materials for underwater archaeologists to uncover and study. Undersea cave systems are being explored, and more is being understood about how life can survive in extreme conditions.

Situated off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is the Hoyo Negro (black hole) underwater cave system. A vast subterranean domain, it is a relic of the ice ages. What remarkable discoveries lie there, waiting to be uncovered? How much more can we uncover about the geological history of the Late Pleistocene period?

Rather than colonising other planets, let’s devote our energies to exploring and understanding our own planet.