The discovery of endurance, a “historic” landmark of science

Buenos Aires, March 9 (EFE). The discovery of the remains of the Endurance, the ship of the legendary Anglo-Irish polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, which sank in 1915, is a “historic” milestone on a continent like Antarctica, one of the world’s most inhospitable regions with barely two centuries of history.

This was stated by Juan Manuel Lerio, a geologist from the Argentine Antarctic Institute, who, in comments to Efe, praised the “good condition” found on the ship, possibly due to the absence of teredos, a type of marine worm that feeds on ship wood and which, in principle , will not be present 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.

The discovery was confirmed on Wednesday by Endurance22, a research expedition that left South Africa last February to find the legendary shipwreck.

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

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.”

In the Antarctic Treaty application, you cannot touch or remove any artifact. “It remains as it is; it is a submerged museum from which nothing can be taken, it cannot be taken anywhere and displayed,” recalls Lerio.

Shackleton Journey

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. EFE

JACB / RGM / JLS

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