The discovery of the Endurance has been described as the most significant since the Titanic. Part of the doomed 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the finding of the wreckage has New Zealand links to both Antarctica's heroic age and the international research team tasked with finding it
The storied shipwreck of Antarctic explorer Shackleton has been discovered, almost exactly where it had been hoped.
The Endurance was discovered just over 6 kilometres south of the final reading made by Captain Frank Worsley.
Armed with two UAV underwater drones and the 107-year-old readings from the workbook of the New Zealand navigator, it was discovered 3000m down, on the sea bed not far from where it had been crushed in the Antarctic sea ice.
"Worsley was manifestly a superb navigator," said Donald Lamont, Chairman of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
The Endurance 22 expedition set out to find Shackleton's lost ship departed Cape Town on 5 February, armed with the latest technology. Aboard the modern Icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II, the team were using SAAB Sabertooth underwater robots and aerial drones, to scan the region.
Even with these modern advantages they were dependent on the original records of the captain. Shackleton's crew relied on the sun to locate themselves in the ice, which sat low on the horizon when it was not blotted out by Antarctic clouds.
"It is known that the sextant readings at that latitude are subject to error, however meticulous Worsley was," said Lamont.
In 1915 the Endurance was part of an expedition to attempt to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to meet with a team in the Ross Sea. The mission was abandoned after the ship was crushed by pack ice and had to make an heroic escape across the ice with lifeboats. Shackleton and Worsley's 1,500km journey to South Georgia is one of the greatest survival stories of all time.
However, the Endurance was left behind on the bottom of the seabed.
Drifting pack ice made it uncertain whether the ship could ever be found, or in what state it would be discovered. The last images by expedition photographer Frank Hurley's show only splinters and broken rigging on the ice.
That was the last anyone saw of the ship until now.
"If you are looking at a wreck in the open sea you have to have a huge search mission," Lamont said.
"The ship was static in the ice, Worsley was a meticulous navigator - so you do start with that advantage."
Although the research team knew roughly where to look, conditions continued to be challenging.
Time was the biggest constraint. It took the team five weeks to find the wreck.
This was the Agulhas II's second attempt to find the wreck, after a 2019 search was called off after getting stuck in sea ice.
This successful discovery was made in the 11th hour. Given the narrow timeframe, Lamont said Endurance had to be found by the 12 of March or not at all.
New Zealand mariner James Blake was on the Agulhas as part of the international expedition.
He said it was an "incredible experience to witness with an incredible team".
The son of sailor Sir Peter Blake, James said he was helping film the expedition and the drone operators' imaging of the seabed. He said that the Endurance's captain Worsley had been an inspiration.
"Worsley was already known for being an incredible captain and amazing navigator but the fact that the ship was found so close to his original coordinates only solidifies him as being a key reason for why all the men survived."
The New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust, with whom Blake has worked previously, celebrated the success.
Nigel Watson, Executive director of the Trust, put the images on par with the discovery of the Titanic.
"It's one of these things that has fascinated people for generations, as a story. And it's fantastic to have the imagery coming back from a New Zealander."
"The importance of this will resonate down and hopefully it serves as a way to inspire others to continue to go out and continue to explore the remote parts of the world."
As the team eventually returns to South Africa, Endurance will remain under the sea ice undisturbed.
"The wreck is protected under the Antarctic Treaty. Our search is a non-intrusive search," says Lamont.
Imagery and 3D scans of the ship are all that can be taken. Nothing will be removed.
It is hoped that like previous conservation work done by the New Zealand and Falkland Heritage trusts, the imagery will be used in multimedia projects and exhibitions worldwide.
The expedition is already the subject of a National Geographic documentary and will appear in a feature film in Autumn this year.
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