This is a splendid atmospheric painting of a little known but historic operation. It shows one of the mahogany-hulled Supermarine Seagull amphibian aircraft of the 1920's flying over Shaw Island taking part in the Great Barrier Reef Survey of 1926.

Under normal operations these machines were off-loaded from their mother ship, HMAS Albatross, by derrick and winched back aboard after their sorties. They carried a crew of three and cruised at a gentlemanly 85 mph.

The information piece that accompanies this reproduction also features a story of its offspring, the Walrus.