When Ernest Shackleton embarked on his 1914 expedition to reach the South Pole, he and his crew had no idea they would make history—not for victory but for survival.
Trapped by Antarctic ice, Shackleton’s ship was lost to the depths of the Weddell Sea.
Now, thanks to the latest 3D scanning technology, the Endurance’s final resting place, found 10,000 feet below the Antarctic surface, is coming back into view.
Back in 1914, Shackleton and his crew set sail from South Georgia, aiming once more for Antarctica. It was the Irish explorer's third attempt to reach the South Pole after previous expeditions had fallen short.
Despite meticulous planning, this journey would prove the most perilous yet.
In 1915, Endurance became trapped in the Weddell Sea, encased by massive blocks of ice. Shackleton’s crew endured 10 grueling months, hoping for a thaw that never came.
Instead, as temperatures plummeted, the ship’s wooden structure weakened until Endurance finally succumbed, sinking into the icy depths.
Photo: Royal Geographical Society / Wikimedia Commons
Artifacts Preserved in the Icy Depths
For over a century, the ship’s location remained a mystery until the Endurance22 Expedition, led by the Falklands Maritime Trust, pinpointed it nearly 10,000 feet below the Weddell Sea. Rather than diving, the team used 3D scans to capture around 25,000 high-res images of the wreck. This was reported by Artnet.
Thanks to the Weddell Sea’s frigid waters and low currents, Endurance is astonishingly well-preserved, apart from its mast and railings.
In one image, plates used by Shackleton’s crew are visible; in another, a boot believed to belong to second-in-command Frank Wild.
The scans even reveal what appears to be a flare gun, possibly the very one expedition photographer Frank Hurley used to honor the ship as it sank.
“Hurley fired the flare with a massive detonator as a tribute to the ship,” said John Shears, a polar geographer involved in the Endurance22 Expedition, in an interview with the BBC. “Then he mentions in his diary placing it down on the deck. Over a century later, here it is. Incredible.”
These images are featured in Endurance, a new documentary by National Geographic premiering on November 1, which chronicles the 2022 expedition and the shipwreck’s rediscovery.
The Miracle of the Crew’s Survival
The film also recounts the miraculous survival of Shackleton’s crew.
Once they knew the ship was doomed, they made camp on Elephant Island with limited supplies. Shackleton and five crew members then sailed a small rowboat 8,000 miles back to South Georgia for help.
Months later, they returned with a rescue team to find that, against all odds, every crew member had survived. The expedition may have failed, but they returned with an unforgettable story of endurance and hope.
