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Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, was discovered in 2022 at the bottom of the Weddell Sea after more than 100 years on the ocean floor. Now, a team of researchers has sent specially-equipped submarines down to the wreck, scanning the remains and offering a really cool chance to explore the sunken vessel for yourself.
Irish explorer Shackleton raced to the South Pole between 1910 and 1911, taking on Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in the contest to become the first person to reach the South Pole. Amundsen eventually won the race after Shackleton’s ship was trapped in encroaching pack ice and crushed. The vessel sank after getting stuck in the ice, and was lost on the sea floor until deep-sea surveyors uncovered its remains in 2022.
Following its discovery, the remnants of the ship have been scanned by a fleet of underwater exploration vehicles, reports the BBC. The scans of the ship have now been compiled to create new 3D images of the ruins that show the wreck in stunning detail, as the site explains:
The new 3D scan was made using underwater robots that mapped the wreck from every angle, taking thousands of photographs. These were then “stitched” together to create a digital twin.
While footage filmed at this depth can only show parts of Endurance in the gloom, the scan shows the complete 44m long wooden wreck from bow to stern – even recording the grooves carved into the sediment as the ship skidded to a halt on the seafloor.
The model reveals how the ship was crushed by the ice – the masts toppled and parts of the deck in tatters – but the structure itself is largely intact.
The technology used to scan the ship and piece all the components together was developed by Deep Ocean Search in partnership with Voyis Imaging and McGill University, reports the Guardian. Deep Ocean Search was involved in the initial discovery of Endurance in March 2022, forming part of an expedition led by the Falklands Marine Heritage Trust.
Now, the scans it created have been used in a new National Geographic documentary that will air in movie theaters this month and on Disney+ later this year, as the Guardian adds:
The images have been released to accompany a new National Geographic documentary about the expedition and the 2022 quest to find the Endurance. In another technical innovation, the film uses AI tools to reconstruct the voices of Shackleton and six of his crew to allow them to “narrate” their own diaries.
“Being able to bring those diary readings to life using AI means you’re listening to Shackleton and his team narrating their own diaries, and it is their voices,” said Jimmy Chin, one of the directors. “That was something that couldn’t have been done even a few years ago, which really brings a new aspect of the film to life.”
If the pictures of the wreck and the promise of an AI Shackleton whet your appetite for deep sea exploration, then why not check out the discovery of this long-lost Second World War ghost ship that was discovered earlier this month. You can also explore a 109-year-old wreck that was unearthed last year in Michigan.