Graphic shows details about Shackleton’s expedition and the bid to locate the wreck of Endurance.
GN38755EN

ANTARCTICA

Antarctic search for Shackleton's Endurance

By Jordi Bou

January 30, 2019 - Antarctic explorers are trying to find the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s famous ship Endurance, which sank in 1915 during his ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole.

The Endurance was trapped in pack ice and eventually sank 3,000m under the Weddell Sea.

The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019, led by an international team of scientists from Cambridge University's Scott Polar Research Institute, have deployed the SA Agulhas II polar research vessel to the wreck site.

When they reach the last known location of the Endurance, they will use the Hugin 6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to scan the seafloor for the ship.

The spot where the vessel went down is known with some precision, thanks to the coordinates recorded by Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s skipper and master navigator.

Shackleton’s 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out to complete the first land crossing of Antarctica, but after Endurance became trapped the crew had to abandon ship. Shackleton and five of his men eventually escaped across the Southern Ocean, enabling the rescue of the rest of the crew, in a journey regarded as an epic feat of survival.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 30/01/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images, Weddell Sea Expedition, Frank Hurley
Advertisement