Friday, March 25, 2022

Found! Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic

Since Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton's ship sank there from sea-ice, people have been searching for it. Now, 107 years later, it has been found and it's in pretty good shape! Here's the amazing story from BBC NEWS:

(Image: The Endurance. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic)

Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic

BBC NEWS March 9, 2022

Scientists have found and filmed one of the greatest ever undiscovered shipwrecks 107 years after it sank.

The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats.

Even though it has been sitting in 3km (10,000ft) of water for over a century, it looks just like it did on the November day it went down.

Its timbers, although disrupted, are still very much together, and the name - Endurance - is clearly visible on the stern.

"Without any exaggeration this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen - by far," said marine archaeologist Mensun Bound, who is on the discovery expedition and has now fulfilled a dream ambition in his near 50-year career."It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation," he told BBC News.

The project to find the lost ship was mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT), using a South African icebreaker, Agulhas II, and equipped with remotely operated submersibles.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/BRPkL7xk55A


Where was the ship found? 

Endurance was spotted in the Weddell Sea at a depth of 3,008m.

For over two weeks, the subs had combed a predefined search area, investigating various interesting targets, before finally uncovering the wreck site on Saturday - the 100th anniversary of Shackleton's funeral. The days since the discovery have been spent making a detailed photographic record of the timbers and surrounding debris field.

The wreck itself is a designated monument under the international Antarctic Treaty and must not be disturbed in any way. No physical artefacts have therefore been brought to the surface. 

 FULL STORY: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60662541

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