Diving down into the murky blue waters off Cape Douglas in South Australia's south east one morning last year, Carl von Stanke came across a ghost.

Last seen in 1855, the Iron Age was a steel-hulled barque on its maiden voyage from England when the crew ran into trouble in heavy seas near the south-east coastline.

The ship's crew managed to get to safety, but the brand new vessel sank below the surface.

After 160 years at the bottom of the ocean, all that is left is the rough outline of the ship's wooden hull, buried in the silt and the odd brick left over from its ballast.

For the 18-year-old shipwreck hunter, witnessing it for the first time was a moment of delight and reward.

With a knack for research and with nearly 10 years of diving experience under his belt, it is not the first wreck the Mount Gambier teenager has discovered — nor will it be his last.

During the last few years, Mr von Stanke has been working with the State Heritage Unit and Adelaide university researchers to rediscover and document the wreck of the Hawthorn, which sank in Bucks Bay in 1949.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 7 seconds 7 s Diving the wreck of the Hawthorn ( Supplied: Carl von Stanke )

He also believes he has found the 1892 wreck of the Lotus, lying near the coast of Port Macdonnell.

"That was accidental," he said, with a grin.

According to Mr von Stanke, it is not only time and extensive research, but a combination of good weather and simple luck required to stumble across a ship's remains.

Rattling off names including the Adelaide, Witness, Galatea and the Prince of Wales, Mr von Stanke has a long list of the region's undiscovered shipwrecks firmly imprinted in his mind.

He smiles when asked if he would like to find those ships, many lost at sea in the 19th century.

"I wouldn't mind it," he said. "I just enjoy finding things."

Well hidden: scattered bricks and the shape of a hull is all that remains of the Iron Age, which sank near Cape Douglas in 1855. ( Supplied: Carl von Stanke )

Shipwrecks a valuable part of state's history

Senior Maritime Heritage Officer Amer Khan said people such as Mr von Stanke, with their intimate knowledge of local waters, were excellent contributors when it came to searching for the state's lost shipwrecks.

It is the job of Mr Khan and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources State Heritage Unit to locate, document and manage the remains of the South Australia's estimated 800 shipwrecks.

While some of these shipwrecks are famous in their own right, such as the tragic tales of the Admella in 1859 or the Maria in 1840, many of them sink with no nefarious tales or deaths attached and hold little news value or public interest.

But according to Mr Khan, their value to the state's history is priceless.

Once a wreck passes a certain age, the vessel and any cargo, relics or human remains, are deemed of historic significance and protected under State and Commonwealth law, even if it has not been found yet.

In the midst of a vast ocean, his team firstly needed to narrow down a search field before investing in a timely and expensive hunt, Mr Khan said.

Remote sensing technologies, sonar, underwater surveys and even high resolution aerial photography could often pick up indicators of a shipwreck, depending on site depth and location.

But after decades underwater, at the mercy of strong underwater currents and wood-devouring marine borers, sometimes very little remains of a once proud and seaworthy vessel.

Mr Khan said a ship's best chance of survival was to become buried by protective sand and sediment, giving the remains the highest likelihood of preservation.

"If it's deep enough, it remains undisturbed to the point at which you can get such an amazing picture of life on board and what people were doing, even right up to when the ship foundered," Mr Khan said.

But no matter how tempting it was to sneak a shipwreck souvenir, Mr Khan said it was important to leave a site exactly as found.

Mr Khan believed the casual diver who decided an artefact would look better on his own mantelpiece, rather than delivering it into the careful hands of researchers, was doing the state's history a disservice.

Left in context, the remains of a shipwreck can tell a story better than any historian or survivor.

Carl and a friend visit the wreck of the Pisces Star near Carpenters Rocks, one of the region's most popular and visible shipwrecks. ( Supplied: Carl von Stanke )

Finding the Flying Cloud

For many people, there is a certain romance to shipwrecks and the objects that belong to them.

For Carl von Stanke, to find something which has lain under the ocean for so long, unseen and undisturbed, is addictive.

Although he left this week to begin a career with the Australian Army, Mr von Stanke already has his sights set on a spot near Cape Banks when he returns home.

On a foggy night in April 1870, a brig named the Flying Cloud, loaded with a cargo of sugar, snagged on a reef near the Cape.

The crew were rescued, but the ship's whereabouts remains a mystery.

Years after, pieces of the ship washed up as far away as Portland, Victoria.

Mr von Stanke believes he knows where it lies — and that will be the young shipwreck hunter's next big project.