Peter Raymond Warner (22 February 1931[1] – 13 April 2021) was an Australian seafarer and ship's captain who discovered six Tongan youths marooned on a Pacific island in 1966, more than a year after they had been presumed dead.
[6] Upon returning to Australia, Warner finally joined his father's business, staying for five years and studying accountancy.
[6] While working for his father, as a side business, Warner acquired a small fleet of fishing boats based in Tasmania.
[2] On 11 September 1966, Warner was sailing his Australian fishing boat Just David past the Tongan island of ʻAta.
He noticed patches of burned grass on the island's cliff sides, which he thought unusual, and approached to investigate.
[4] By the time Warner arrived, the boys had set up a commune with a food garden, hollowed-out trees to store rainwater, a gymnasium, badminton court, chicken enclosures, and a permanent fire.
The crewman who sighted the distress flashes from a mirror was Sione Filipe Totau, the lead boy from Ata Island – now a deckhand on Warner's ship.
Several years after returning to Australia in 1998,[1] Warner founded Tree Carers Pty Ltd, a business dedicated to nut farming.
[14] He published three volumes of his autobiography: On 13 April 2021, Warner drowned when his boat capsized attempting to cross the Ballina Bar at the mouth of the Richmond River.