Searching for the Endurance

Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which sank in 1915, is still somewhere at the bottom of the Weddell Sea at a depth of around 3000 m. Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s navigator, recorded the location using a sextant and chronometer. As a new team (The Endurance 22 project) prepares to search for the wreck with underwater robots, this BBC article discusses the potential errors in this location due to chronometer drift and imprecise star maps. ESR’s Laurie Padman contributes his experience from Ice Station Weddell.