An expedition will soon set off for Antarctica in search of the ship Endurance, abandoned in ice in 1915 by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after they had been trapped in sea ice for over ten months. The new expedition marks the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s death in 1922.
While the crew eventually was able to escape in lifeboats and on foot, the ship sank in the Weddell Sea. Shackleton had explored polar areas several times before, coming within a hundred miles of being first to the South Pole.
The search for the ship, calling itself Endurance22, will sail from South Africa on February 5. Using modern equipment, they hope to located the wreck, survey it and film it as part of a number of centenary programs for Shackleton, including renovation and expansion of a museum dedicated to him in his Irish home town and display of some of his equipment at London’s Maritime Museum.
At first I thought the photo was from a movie, but it turns out to be the real thing … and quite a few more equally good ones appear to exist.
As a scientific expedition, I assume that their photographic equipment needed to be of quite high quality, and probably also quite heavy! I stayed last summer at an Airbnb whose owner has been a ‘fan,’ if that’s the word, of Shackleton for years, and I had the opportunity to see quite a few images there.
I love that photo.