Lost & Found

The Endurance set off in December 1914 with a 28-man crew. The expedition was led by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The men wanted to be the first to travel across the continent of Antarctica.

The journey was extremely dangerous. The Weddell Sea is covered in ice floes, which are floating sheets of ice that can stretch for miles. High winds and ocean currents cause the ice to shift unexpectedly. Open water could suddenly disappear as floes collide and freeze.

In January 1915, the Endurance became trapped in ice and began drifting with the floes. The crew stayed aboard the stuck vessel for the next nine months. But the ice slowly crushed the ship, tearing holes in its sides and filling it with water. The men made camp on the ice. Then, on November 21, 1915, the Endurance sank.

After losing their ship, the crew piled onto three small lifeboats and sailed to Elephant Island, which was uninhabited. Then Shackleton made a desperate plan. He and five men sailed a lifeboat 800 miles to South Georgia, an island off the coast of Argentina where a small community of people lived.

It was a perilous 17-day journey. The lifeboat offered little protection against the hurricane-force winds and freezing waters. The men navigated by calculating the positions of the sun and stars, but there was little room for error. If they had missed South Georgia, they likely would have died—and possibly the entire crew would have been lost forever.

Amazingly, the men reached the island and later rescued the rest of the crew. “It was probably the most incredible small boat journey ever made,” says Shears.

The Endurance set off in December 1914. It carried a crew of 28 men. The expedition was led by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The men wanted to be the first to travel across the continent of Antarctica.

The journey was extremely dangerous. The sea around Antarctica is covered in ice floes. These floating sheets of ice can stretch for miles. High winds and ocean currents can move the ice unexpectedly. When the floes collide and freeze together, a ship’s path through the water can suddenly disappear.

In January 1915, the Endurance became trapped in ice. The ship began drifting with the floes. The crew stayed aboard the stuck vessel for the next nine months. But the ice slowly crushed the ship, tearing holes in its sides. Water flowed in through the holes and filled the ship. The men got off and camped on the ice. Finally, the Endurance sank on November 21, 1915.

After losing their ship, the crew piled onto three small lifeboats. They sailed to Elephant Island, where no people lived. Then Shackleton made a desperate plan. He and five men sailed a lifeboat 800 miles. They made it to South Georgia, an island off the coast of Argentina. A small community of people lived there and could help.

The journey to South Georgia took 17 days. It was extremely dangerous. In the lifeboat, the men were exposed to strong winds and freezing waves. They navigated using the positions of the sun and stars. There was no room for error in their calculations. If they had missed South Georgia, they likely would have died. The crew they had left behind might have been lost forever.

Amazingly, though, the men reached the island. They later rescued the rest of the crew. “It was probably the most incredible small boat journey ever made,” says Shears.

More than 100 years later, the Endurance22 team set out to find Shackleton’s ship. They began by creating a roughly 120-square-mile search grid based on notes from the 1914 expedition. “The logbooks gave us a good idea of approximately where it had sunk,” says Shears.

The Endurance22 expedition sailed on a polar icebreaker called Agulhas II. It was built to survive the harsh conditions of Antarctica. Its thick hull and powerful engine allowed it to break through the sea ice, which was almost 7 feet thick.

The team used underwater drones to scan the seafloor. These robots were programmed to travel along set paths. They mapped the seafloor using a sonar device that uses sound waves to measure an object’s distance and shape.

Working in the icy waters off the coast of Antarctica was difficult. Air temperatures plunged to -10.4° Fahrenheit. The team had to set up a heated tent to keep their equipment from freezing. For 18 days, the sonar picked up nothing. But on March 5, it revealed a ship-shaped object nearly 2 miles below the water’s surface. The team took a closer look with the drone’s camera. It was the Endurance!

More than 100 years later, the Endurance22 team set out to find Shackleton’s ship. They began by looking at notes from the 1914 expedition. “The logbooks gave us a good idea of approximately where it had sunk,” says Shears. The team chose an area of about 120 square miles to search.

The Endurance22 team sailed on a ship called a polar icebreaker. It was built to survive the harsh conditions of Antarctica. Its thick hull and powerful engine allowed it to break through the sea ice. In some places, this ice was almost 7 feet thick.

The team used underwater drones to scan the seafloor. These robots were programmed to travel along set paths. They carried sonar devices that mapped the seafloor. A sonar device uses sound waves to measure an object’s shape and how far away it is.

Working in the icy waters was difficult. Air temperatures plunged to -10.4° Fahrenheit. The team had to set up a heated tent to keep their equipment from freezing. For 18 days, the sonar picked up nothing. But on March 5, it found something nearly 2 miles below the water’s surface. It appeared to be the shape of a ship. The team used cameras on a drone to take a closer look. It was the Endurance!

The ship had been nearly perfectly preserved. Marine organisms that usually break down wood cannot survive in the frigid waters around Antarctica. Boots, mugs, and other artifacts were still sitting on the deck of the ship. “It looks like it sank yesterday,” said Nico Vincent, the mission’s underwater engineer.

The Endurance has been declared a historical monument, so objects on it cannot be touched or removed. Engineers took photos, videos, and 3-D scans of the ship. These will be used to create a digital model for scientists to study. “The discovery is a fitting end to Shackleton’s incredible adventure,” says Vincent.

The ship had been preserved almost perfectly. Normally, underwater organisms would have broken down the  wood. But these life-forms cannot survive in the freezing waters around Antarctica. “It looks like it sank yesterday,” says Nico Vincent, an engineer on the mission. Boots, mugs, and other items were still sitting on the deck of the ship.

The Endurance has been declared a historic monument. That means objects on it cannot be touched or removed. Instead, the engineers took photos, videos, and 3-D scans of the ship. These will be used to create a digital model that scientists can study. “The discovery is a fitting end to Shackleton’s incredible adventure,” says Vincent.