Pearl diving deckhands, c1950. While the diver is submerged the deckhands oversee the air supply and the tender communicates with the diver through pulls on the lifeline. Don Boota, Joe Guivarra and Sammy Bowder on the Phyllis, c1950. Photograph by courtesy of Pedro Guivarra, Collection of Regina Ganter

Photograph by courtesy of Pedro Guivarra, Collection of Regina Ganter

Henry Dan, also known as Seaman Dan from Thursday Island, ready for helmet-and-corselet diving on the Paxie, 1956. The corselet has an 11 lb weight at the front and 14 lb weight at the back to facilitate descent. Photograph by courtesy of Henry Dan, Collection of Regina Ganter

Photograph by courtesy of Henry Dan, Collection of Regina Ganter

Georgie Wallis and Sammy Bowder cleaning pearl-shell on the deck of Keith Bradford’s Phyllis, c1950. Photograph by courtesy of Pedro Guivarra, Collection of Regina Ganter

Photograph by courtesy of Pedro Guivarra, Collection of Regina Ganter

Bully Drummond showing an unusually large coral-encrusted pearl-shell, 1949. After the war the re-entry of Japanese divers was controversial and Torres Strait Islanders were able to demonstrate their skill and daring as deep-sea divers. Drummond is wearing a hair net and cut-up blanket under the diving dress. Photograph by courtesy of Ken Corn, Collection of Regina Ganter

Photograph by courtesy of Ken Corn, Collection of Regina Ganter

The pearling fleet leaves Kushimoto, 1953. The first post-war pearling fleet was farewelled from Kushimoto in 1953. For the people of Kushimoto, sending this fleet to Australia seemed like the resumption of an old tradition. However, the entry of the Japanese fleet into what Australia now claimed as sovereign territory followed protracted negotiations, because Australia sought to assert the new international doctrine of sovereignty over its ‘continental shelf’. The Japanese government eventually acknowledged Australia’s territorial claim and agreed to catch quotas and size limitations.

Photograph by courtesy of Shishio Takai, Collection of Regina Ganter

Thursday Island Cemetery, 2009. Many Japanese headstones are reminders of the pearling industry. Digital images, Collection of the Centre for the Government of Queensland

Copyright © Collection of the Centre for the Government of Queensland

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