They found the Endurance Ship under the Antarctic Ocean

In 1915 the legendary Anglo-Irish polar explorer Ernest Shackleton sank in the middle of an exploration, and to date has not been recovered. In February, an expedition left South Africa to search for him and today they confirmed that they had found him.

According to experts, it represents a “historic” landmark on a continent like Antarctica, one of the most inhospitable regions of the world that has barely two centuries of history.

This was stated by Juan Manuel Lerio, a geologist from the Argentine Antarctic Institute, who in comments to Efe prized the “good condition” found on the ship, possibly due to the lack of “teredos”, a type of marine worm that feeds on wood from ships and that, from In principle, it would not be located in that region of the Antarctic Sea.

“They found it quite complete, it’s a historical monument. The British were very interested in finding it because in some way it’s a symbolic ship,” Lerio said in a telephone conversation.

This discovery was confirmed on Wednesday by Endurance22.

Where did they find it?

The stamina remains were found at a depth of 3,008 meters in the Weddell Sea (in the Antarctic Ocean), an area “completely restricted” by extreme weather conditions, according to Lerio.

The remains of the legendary ship were found, according to the text, “within the search area identified by the exploration team before they left Cape Town” (southwest of South Africa), in an area about 4 miles south of the site where it was then recorded by the ship’s captain, Frank Worsley, before That the crew is forced to abandon it, trapped in the ice.

“The Weddell Sea has a lot of floating ice and it is a very difficult area to navigate in. The main problem in finding the bearing capacity was the Weddell marine conditions, because of the cold and the amount of ice,” said the Argentine geologist.

How was it found?

“We have been overwhelmed by our good fortune locating and photographing the stamina. This is by far the highest quality wooden wreck I have ever seen. It stands erect, very proud of the sea floor, intact and in superb state of preservation,” explained Minson Pound, Director of Exploration at Endurance22.

According to this expert, the inscription “Endurance” engraved under the railings on the shipwreck can still be read.

In any case, the wreck is protected as a historic site and monument by the Antarctic Treaty, so researchers made sure that while examining and photographing the wreck it was not “touched or disturbed in any way.”

“Because of the Antarctic Treaty, you cannot touch it or remove any artifact, it remains the same. Lerio remembers that it is a submerged museum from which nothing can be taken, you cannot take it anywhere and expose it.”

So what is it to look for?

Pound said the discovery would not only serve to “protect” the history of polar research, but would encourage a new generation to be inspired by the “pioneering spirit, courage and strength” of those who sailed to Antarctica aboard the ship.

About the first sunken expedition

The expedition departed in which the endurance ship crashed in 1914 trying to reach from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea (both in the Antarctic Ocean), passing through Antarctica.

After the wreck of the endurance ship, trapped and wrecked by ice with its 28 crew just 160 kilometers from Antarctica, Shackleton (1874-1922) led his men across the ice in lifeboats to Elephant Island, where the majority survived for months It feeds on seals and penguins.

Shackleton knew that no one would come looking for them, so he decided to leave 22 of his men waiting on Elephant Island and leave with the rest of his sailors in a lifeboat to South Georgia on an epic mission to get help.

Seventeen days and 1,300 kilometers later, they reached a whaling center and, after four months, returned to the island to rescue 22 of their surviving companions.