In Pictures: The expedition to rediscover The Endurance

S.A Agulhas II leaves Cape Town, South Africa bound for Antarctica, 5th February 2022. Aboard is the Endurance22 expedition to the Weddell Sea, seeking the sunken ship of Sir Ernest Shackleton, which sank after being crippled by pack ice over a century before. 

The S.A Agulhas II is a cutting-edge 135-metre icebreaking vessel owned by the South African government and designed to resupply Antarctic research stations – as well as support scientific expeditions into the most inhospitable regions on Earth. 

The S.A Agulhas II braves rough seas on the Southern Ocean on the way to Antarctica. The waters between the tips of South America and South Africa, and the Antarctica are considered some of the stormiest in the world. Shackleton, who survived the ordeal of being trapped in the ice with The Endurance, would make history after its wrecking by braving an 800-mile crossing of the Southern Ocean to a whaling station on South Georgia. The craft: an open, modified lifeboat he named the James Caird after a financier of the expedition.   

British historian Dan Snow pores over a map of the Weddell Sea. The location of The Endurance had been a subject of intense speculation by archaeologists, who used the diaries of the doomed ship's navigator, Frank Worsley, and the likely drift of the pack ice the ship was trapped amongst to compute the likely resting place of the ship.  

According to Endurance22 expedition leader Dr John Shears, the hunt for the Endurance was "the world's most challenging shipwreck search." Despite this, the location recorded by the Endurance's captain Frank Worsley was surprisingly accurate – just four miles south of where he indicated in his journals. 

As described in the National Geographic story of the discovery, 'Using today’s far more accurate sky maps, researchers calculated that Endurance’s clocks were running faster than the crew accounted for, an error that would shift the location of the vessel west of Worsley’s last recorded position. Using these calculations, the expedition narrowed their search but still faced long odds of finding the vessel.' 

The expedition to find Shackleton's ship faced its own ice-shaped challenges. Despite being a formidable icebreaker, some experts gave the ship only a 10 per cent chance of reaching the search area of the Weddell Sea. According to Dr John Shears, the ship only became stuck once, 'for about four hours.'

An emperor penguin peers off the side of pack ice in the Weddell Sea. When Shackleton left 22 members of the Endurance's crew on Elephant Island for his historic crossing to South Georgia, the crew often caught the slow-moving penguins to eat. During their 127 day vigil for Shackleton's return, their diet also consisted of both seals, and their last meals – namely undigested fish found in their stomach.  

An Sabertooth AUV (Automated Underwater Vehicle) is examined by crew before deploy. The vehicles, made by Swedish technology company Saab, can travel more than 100 miles from their parent ship and explore depths of up to 4,000 metres. 

A drone photograph captures the 140-metre S.A. Agulhas II surrounded by ice. The vessel is capable of breaking through three-metre thick pack ice at a speed of five knots.

Researchers Mira Suhrhoff (left), Lasse Rabenstein and Jakob Belter (right) from Alfred-Wegener-Institute discuss ice conditions on the bridge of S.A.Agulhas II. 

Nico Vincent, Expedition Sub-Sea Manager of the Endurance22 expedition, stands in front of the control room, from where the Sabertooth AUV is operated. 

Carla-Louise Ramjukadh from the South African Weather Service launches a weather balloon from the S.A. Agulhus II.

Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration of Endurance22 expedition (left) and John Shears, Expedition Leader (right) on the sea ice of the Weddell Sea. For Falkland-born Bound, finding the Endurance has been a career-ambition amongst a legacy of similarly high-profile shipwreck finds. 

AUV Sabertooth is recovered from the Weddell Sea after its journey to record images of Shackleton's Endurance. 

Images of the ship reveal the wreck is in remarkable condition – thanks to the preservative effect of the life-inhibiting temperature of the water, the 3,000-metre depth and the sturdiness of the oak construction of the then-revolutionary ship. 

The wreck won't be raised, nor artefacts – which include still identifiable crockery and the ship's intact helm wheel – due to the terms of the Antarctic Treaty listing it as a monument, and for reasons of preservation. Instead, it will be documented for a National Geographic film in Autumn 2022, with lasers recording measurements from the vessel to allow a surface model to be built. 

The last morning in the sea ice of the Weddell Sea on board of S.A. Agulhas II, March 8th, 2022.