A partnership between two preservation organizations has announced a plan to preserve the Endurance shipwreck, a wonderfully preserved schooner at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The additional protections, the partnership announced, will ensure the wreck’s preservation for years to come.
Endurance was a three-masted ship that was part of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s exploration of Antarctica. Endurance sank after getting trapped in Antarctic ice in 1915. The Endurance22 Expedition found the wreck in 2022 at a depth of 9,800 feet (2,987 meters). The wreck sits upright on the seafloor and is remarkably preserved, in large part due to the lack of wood-eating organisms in the freezing Antarctic waters.
Why does the Endurance shipwreck need protection?
The hastening pace of Antarctica’s ice melting and the compelling nature of the shipwreck means the area is getting more visitors, from tourists and commercial fishers alike. Thus, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (in partnership with Historic England) has introduced a plan to conserve the wreck.
An immediate recommendation of the plan is to extend the protected area around the wreck from 1,640 feet (500 m) to 4,921 feet (1,500 m). The trust stated the expansion will cover more of the wreck’s debris field. “Whilst it does not go as far as prohibiting visits to the area it does stipulate standards of behaviour and permitted activity,” the trust wrote in the release announcing the plan.
The second immediate recommendation is to designate the site of the wreck as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area, which will give the wreck the highest level of protection that exists in the Antarctic Treaty System. The Endurance shipwreck will be the first marine heritage site to receive ASPA designation if the application is approved. As reported by the BBC, the wreck is already designated a Historic Site and Monument (HSM). But under that designation people are still allowed to approach the site of the wreck, so more precautions are needed.
“Endurance sits alongside Titanic as one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world, and the story of Shackleton’s expedition and their remarkable rescue mission is of international significance,” said Camilla Nichol, CEO of the trust, in the release. “I think the resulting Conservation Management Plan supports our aims to ensure that future human activity will only benefit and preserve Endurance.”
Why is the Endurance shipwreck remarkable?
Endurance was just one of Ernest Shackleton’s vessels. Some of Shackleton’s other ships also sank, including Quest, whose wreck was discovered earlier this year. Endurance‘s story is especially known for the resolve shown by its crew in escaping the desolate conditions of the Antarctic. Gizmodo recounted the escape back in 2022:
The crew of 28 was forced to abandon ship and live in makeshift camps on the ice. Using lifeboats, the crew eventually made their way to uninhabited Elephant Island, from where Shackleton and five others sailed 800 miles (1,300 km) in an extraordinary open-boat journey. The small crew managed to reach a whaling station on South Georgia Island. A rescue expedition was mounted in September 1916 to recover the remaining crew on Elephant Island. Incredibly, all 28 crew members made it home alive.
As the release notes, rising ocean temperatures and ocean acidification could accelerate the “biological and chemical decay of the shipwreck.” A 3D scan of the Endurance shipwreck has preserved it in a digital sense, but it’ll take real on-site management to ensure the ship itself stays intact.
