Latest news with #ErnestShackleton
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Crumbling shells, melting ice – and a wildlife boom: what recreating Scott's Antarctic trip reveals about our seas today
Three glass specimen jars full of satsuma-sized echinoderms, or sea urchins, sit on Dr Hugh Carter's desk in the Natural History Museum. Each one, collected from the depths of the Southern Ocean by polar teams led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, Capt Robert Falcon Scott and the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink, tells a tale of heroic exploration and scientific endeavour. Now, more than a century later, Carter, the Natural History Museum's (NHM) curator of marine invertebrates, hopes the preserved Antarctic urchins, 50 in all, will help tell a different, increasingly urgent story of modern times: how changes in the world's southernmost waters may be affecting marine life. In January, the biologist undertook a six-week long research trip to visit the exact sites sampled by Borchgrevink's Southern Cross, Shackleton's Discovery and Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition between 1898 and 1913. His voyage, part of a multidisciplinary expedition run by the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (Niwa), supported by the Antarctic Science Platform in New Zealand, partly retraced the route made by Scott. Scott and four other explorers, including the chief scientist, Edward Wilson, perished in the ice around a month after the samples sitting on Carter's desk were collected. In the Antarctic, which is warming at twice the global average, a lack of baseline scientific data makes it difficult to assess the physical and biological changes that have occurred over time. Carter's theory is that comparing the 'tests' or shell of the urchins in the NHM's collection with modern samples will help reveal more about the impact of ocean acidification, often called the 'evil twin' of the climate crisis. Acidification is caused when carbon dioxide is rapidly absorbed into the ocean, where it then reacts with water molecules leading to a fall in the pH of the seawater. Preliminary findings on Carter's ship, the deep water research vessel the RV Tangaroa, appeared to confirm his worst fears. 'We know that the ocean has been getting more acidic but in most cases we don't know what the impacts are,' he says. 'We had a suspicion that [due to ocean acidification] you would get less calcium carbonate in the water. This would make it harder to build a body if that body is made from calcium carbonate.' Corals, sea snails, oysters and small single-celled organisms called foraminifera, a component of plankton, all rely on calcium carbonate to build shells. Calcium carbonate dissolves in acid very easily, so the more acid, the harder it is for animals such as these to survive. In June, new research showed that 60% of global waters had breached the safe limit for acidification, in what scientists described as a 'ticking timebomb' for planetary health. While the tests of the historical urchins on Carter's desk were 'robust and healthy', those brought to the surface in January were thinner and more fragile in comparison, so much so that they were crushed by the force of the hose used to clean them. 'All the ones we collected were fragile and some of them collapsed,' says Carter. 'From initial appearances, the modern specimens we collected have weaker tests than the historical ones, but we need to do more work to establish to what degree and exactly what is causing this. 'There are confounding variables of course, but the fact the new ones are thinner is concerning.' The biological implications of an acidifying ocean could be enormous, adds Carter. 'It could make the seas unliveable for things with a calcium skeleton.' During the expedition, the impact of the climate crisis was tangible; some of the study sites were only accessible because of melting ice. And it coincided with stark findings that the level of global sea ice fell to its lowest recorded level, a symptom of our warming planet. But there were positive finds on the expedition, too. Carter saw as many as 150 whales on his trip, as well as what he described as 'crazy levels' of wildlife on the western edge of Coulman island, which had 17 species of starfish in just 100 metres, the same number found in all of the UK's shallow waters. 'It is a thrill to know that the environment is not as bad in some parts of the world as it could be,' he says. 'It's the only bit of the world you don't see any plastic or human impacts from fishing.' Prof Craig Stevens, an Niwa oceanographer who co-led the Tangaroa expedition, described their work as 'sweet and sour'. 'This lack of ice is having knock-on effects for not only the regional ocean but the whole planet. This work is very sweet and sour. It is amazing to get the opportunity to advance the science, but at the same time, we are catching glimpses of a future for the planet that we really want to avoid. It brings home in a very tangible way the need to limit emissions of climate-affecting gases.'
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- General
- Buzz Feed
31 People Shared Their Third Man Syndrome Experiences
These last few months, my "Roman Empire" has been "third man syndrome." Also known as the "third man effect," it's a phenomenon that most commonly occurs in people who are in extreme distress, danger, or are about to have a near-death experience. The feeling is often described as the sense that another person is present, either giving them an unexpected sense of comfort, warning them of something awful that's about to happen, or literally (and, sometimes, physically) stepping in to intervene and prevent harm. Some people say it's like a disembodied voice or a gut feeling they can't shake. are literally visited by a "third person" in the flesh. People have come up with all kinds of explanations for the feeling, from paranormal to spiritual to psychological. However, the term itself comes from the T.S. Eliot poem, "The Waste Land," which was inspired by the real-life experience of Ernest Shackleton — an Irish explorer who went on a near-death expedition in Antarctica in 1916. After their ship got trapped in ice, he and two other members of his crew made a 36-hour-long trek over mountains and glaciers to a whaling station. During that time, each member of his three-man team — Ernest included — kept feeling like there was a fourth man alongside them. T.S. Eliot wrote this stanza inspired by that phenomenon: In case you're confused on all the numbers going on here, the members of the real-life expedition felt a "fourth member" was present, but T.S. Eliot took some artistic liberties and changed the number of people who were present, making the "additional person" the "third man." There doesn't literally have to be two people present — let alone two men — to experience the phenomenon, it's just a term that seems to have stuck! I asked BuzzFeed readers like you to share their own real-life "third man" experiences, and y'all certainly have some skin-tingling tales. Here are just 31 of them that had me questioning everything: "I was 20 years old and had just moved to San Francisco. I was walking to the grocery store and about to cross a busy street at an intersection. Just as I stepped off the curb, a voice in my head said, 'Don't take another step,' and it seemed like everything started happening in slow motion. Just then, a truck came flying down the street, blew the red light, and smashed into a car that was driving through the intersection. If I'd taken two more steps, I would've been smashed between the two vehicles. I'm so glad I listened to that voice." "My ex, 20 years before we met, was living with her parents in the north San Fernando Valley. She went to a party one night and was found the next morning on a sidewalk in Long Beach, unconscious with no ID. 911 was called, and three paramedics took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. As the three paramedics wheeled her to the morgue, one of them detected a faint pulse. They took her back, and she was hooked up to the only life support machine of its kind on the West Coast. She was still unconscious and unidentified when her parents found her two days later. The head nurse told them the story of the three paramedics." "When I was 11, I was riding my bike to a friend's house after dinner. I wanted to see how fast I could get there and started to race through the neighborhood. It wasn't a busy neighborhood, and there were usually no cars parked on the street. I had my head down, pedaling, and heard a voice say, 'Look up.' The instant I looked up, I hit a parked van and went face-first into the rear windshield. Ended up with over 80 stitches in my face, but had I not looked up, I likely would have broken my neck and died. There was nobody around or outside at the time." "I was taking a shortcut across a frozen reservoir on the way to a friend's house. Suddenly, the ice cracked, and I started to fall through. I felt two hands slam into my back, and I skidded across the ice. I was soaking wet when I arrived at my friend's house, cold and shivering. I told him the story as I changed into some of his clothes so we could throw mine into the dryer. My friend turned white, and his eyes were bugging out of his head. He guided me to the bathroom so I could look in the mirror, and I saw what disturbed him. There were two hand-shaped bruises forming on my back. 40+ years later, I still get chills thinking about it." "I've never told this story publicly. My brother was 19, stood 6' tall, and weighed 210lbs. He decided to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. I was 21 and away at college. They (he and my mom) called me to tell me his plans. I have no idea why, but I was terrified and panicked immediately. I shouted over the phone and pleaded with him not to go, and then told my mother this was a big mistake and to NOT LET HIM GO. She tried to reason with me and tell me he was a man and could make his own decisions, but I was panicking and just kept shouting, 'NO NO NO.' He left in April 1981." "I was on a motorcycle in Des Moines, Iowa, and thought I would avoid traffic by going through an empty truck yard, and through the trees I saw beyond. There was a steep hill of maybe ten or twelve feet in height at the side of the yard, and I went up the hill. As I neared the top, I heard a voice in my head say, 'STOP!' Without a moment's hesitation, I put both brakes on fully. The bike barely made it to the top of the rise and stopped. I looked down and saw water from a river only three feet below me. I recall thinking, 'Oh. So that's what a levee is.' I was wearing full gear for touring, and certainly would have drowned if the voice had not spoken to me." "This happened 30 years ago. Our 3-year-old had a peanut allergy, which can be fatal. This allergy was not understood or well-known. We went to a restaurant during off-hours. The tables surrounding ours were empty. At the end of the meal, the young waitress said our child's meal came with an ice cream dessert. We were assured there were no peanuts in it and were told it was only sprinkled with chocolate-filled Smarties, so we said OK. I was watching my weight and told myself that I wasn't going to taste anyone's dessert. Also, I disliked the texture of Smarties. Just as our daughter was about to dig in, I felt a very firm push against my upper arm. I don't know why, but I didn't turn to see who did it. Instead, I reached over and grabbed a Smartie, then popped it into my mouth. It was a Reese's Pieces, filled with peanut butter." "In the early '90s, when I was at most 6 years old, my older sister and parents had an event to attend that I wasn't invited to. We had some family friends who also had two daughters our ages, and they had a full-time live-in nanny. I was friends with the younger daughter, and since the family friends were invited to the same event (with the exception of the younger daughter), I was dropped off at their house for a playdate while the rest of them went, supervised by the nanny. Right as the nanny was about to start making dinner, I stopped her and insisted that we couldn't cook anything and had to get out of the house because I could smell gas." "In 1976, when I was 23, I woke one morning with a strong feeling to stay home and not go anywhere that day. It was my day off from work, so I decided to stay in, but my boyfriend called me that evening and wanted me to come over. I felt uneasy about agreeing, but I wanted to see him, so I did. About 11 p.m., I decided to go home from his place. I suddenly heard the whispers of a crowd of people telling me not to leave, but I ignored them. As I got into my car, I heard a loud shout. 'Put on your seat belt!' it said." "My dad was in the hospital, and we were talking on the phone. A few minutes into the conversation, my dad said his nurse wanted to talk to me. A man got on the phone, said his name was David, and said my dad wasn't in very good shape. I asked what was wrong. He said my dad wasn't getting his meals or meds regularly at home. I was shocked and devastated. My dad remarried some years before, after having lived with the woman for over a decade. I had met her and her daughter numerous times over the years and thought they were decent folks. But, something was horribly wrong." "When my oldest son was 4, I took him to a local rural creek to walk around. It was a secluded location with no one else around. While crossing the creek, I slipped and sprained my ankle so badly that my ankle bone rolled over and touched the ground. Knowing that I was in trouble, I immediately grabbed my son and got him to the car and home. My ankle was so badly torn that I couldn't put weight on it for another two weeks. When we were talking about it later, my son casually mentioned that it was good that those two men were there to help me get to the car." "I developed PTSD before I learned to tie my shoes, and as a result, I had a lot of 'behavioral problems' as a child. This resulted in me spending much of my elementary education in isolated suspension. Essentially, I was put in a very small room in the administrative office, which had a big glass window. There were two desks in there, and I became close friends with a boy from another class in my fourth and fifth grade years, because he was usually in ISS with me. Well, turns out he never existed." "The very first time I remember this happening, I was around 8. My daily chores included taking out the trash, and my parents had to frequently remind me to do it. One particular time, I neglected my chores, it was raining all day, and I was being lazy. My mom yelled up the stairs for me to take the garbage out. I, of course, had to chime back and tell her it was raining and I'd do it later. Since it was a rainy day, my mom used the opportunity to clean the house. This meant the trash filled up faster than normal, and she needed it done. She started using her mom-voice, and for some reason, I kept resisting. I had a gut feeling. Eventually, I begrudgingly obliged." "My sister and I were teenagers, driving around town and drinking. We drank way too much that night we shouldn't have been out driving. Her car was pretty much a piece of junk that would quit running at random moments. Well, that random moment struck as we were close to railroad tracks. The engine stopped and we rolled onto the tracks as a train was approaching." "At one point, I worked 10 days straight with no days off, so when I finally got one, all I wanted to do that particular evening was watch a good movie with a glass of wine and relax. Around 9:30 p.m., I started hearing this voice telling me, 'You must get out of this house.' I couldn't understand why I was thinking this thought, so I tried really hard to stop thinking it. After some time, I realized it was not my thought. I had no control to stop it and over time it was getting louder and more persistent." "The first time I experienced this phenomenon was in 1981. I was mowing my lawn, and my dad dropped by. It was very hot and I had been mowing for a while. My young son was playing in the yard, also. My dad walked up and offered to take over the mowing, and I was going to let him, but I heard a very loud voice say, 'Don't let him do it.' So, I told him no, I would finish it myself. The next night, he had a fatal heart attack. I believe that if I had let him mow, he would have died right there in my yard, in front of my son." "A few years ago, I got my daughter a cat for her birthday. About two months later, we were painting together and used an old sports water bottle to rinse our brushes. We were having fun, and I didn't realize how late it had gotten, so I put my daughter in the bath and to bed without cleaning up. After she fell asleep, I went back downstairs and laid on the couch, thinking I would clean up after an episode of The Boys. About two hours later, I was woken up from a dead sleep with a voice telling me to check upstairs. I looked at the baby monitor, and my daughter was asleep and breathing, so I tried to ignore it out of sleepiness. The voice repeated itself, getting more and more urgent. It sounded so urgent that I got up and went upstairs immediately." "One Christmas break from college, my parents decided we were going to drive from Montana to California to see my sister. On the first day, we were driving an isolated road with no traffic. The roads were very icy. I was lying in the backseat when the car started spinning and landed in a ditch beside the road. My parents and I piled out and had to walk up a steep bank to where we'd been driving. We looked down at our car and couldn't figure out what to do. There were no other cars on the road, and this was before cell phones in the early 1980s." "When I was about 8 years old (this would have been 1948–49), I took a city bus to school every day. I crossed a busy street, walked across railroad tracks, and walked a couple of blocks to school. On this occasion, I got off the bus and, like most kids, didn't look both ways. I took two steps into the street, and out of nowhere, felt someone grab me by the shoulders. Suddenly, I was back on the sidewalk. Just as this happened, a car flew by going very fast." "When I was 10, my aunt (who was my guardian because my mom at the time had a serious illness) passed away. I moved with my parents to a remote farmhouse. Fast forward two years, and at age 12, I was awake late one hot summer night when an orb of light appeared above my bed. It was so bright I thought it would blind me. I heard a voice call me by a pet name that only my aunt used. I couldn't move, I was so terrified. She said, 'Tomorrow, a blue van will drive into the driveway and men will knock down the door. It will be OK if you do exactly as I say.' "I was driving home from work, tired after a long day of construction. I also had just stopped drinking a few weeks previously, and my temper was worse than before. I was driving in the slower lane on a four-lane divided highway (there was a wide, grassy median between the directions). Suddenly, two cars slightly ahead of me in the faster lane came over into my lane, cutting me off, and I had to brake quickly. My temper flared, and I was about to pass both of them, just because I was surprised and mad. A voice popped into my head and said nearly audibly, 'You don't have to do that.'" "My son was 5 years old and seemingly healthy. We went to the beach, the zoo, Disney, and road tripped. He was fine. He started kindergarten. When we were home, he was in the playroom with his little brother, having at it, as usual. I was watching them play while cleaning up, and suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard a man's voice. Clear as day, I heard him say, 'That child is not long for the world.' I knew he was talking about Zac." "I was traveling home to bury my mother. I had to go by myself, because my husband had to work and we lived 3,000 miles away from my family. I suffer from bipolar depression and anxiety. The TSA security area was a zoo: people packed like sardines, the trays banging, and the TSA agents barking orders. I was a mess. When I finally made it through the line, I was quietly crying and shaking like a leaf. I sat down on the first empty bench I could find and quietly wept, defeated and broken-hearted, when a little old lady who was not there a second ago put her hand on mine. She didn't say anything, just smiled gently and handed me a tissue." "In 1989, I was visiting my best friend since childhood. We were out shopping at a mall where her son, my godson, worked at a restaurant as a waiter. He took his break and came over to the booth where we were sitting and pulled up a chair. We were all talking and laughing when all of a sudden I felt like I had been pulled out of my body and then heard the words, 'He's not long for here.' Hearing that, in my mind I heard myself say, 'Life is but a grain of sand,' I guess to say that the warning could mean 30 years from now, or anytime. But then again, I heard the words, 'He's not long for here.' "It was the summer of 1986 and I was about 5 when this happened. My father was a marine and the marines brought their families together for a day of hot dogs, baseball, and fun. The park we were at had a paved walking trail that was basically just a really big circle around the park. Little 5-year-old me had my hot dog and went for a walk on the trail. At the furthest(ish) point on the trail from where everyone else was, I began to choke. I took a bite of hot dog that was too big and was having difficulty chewing it, which led to me accidentally swallowing before it was ready to be swallowed. I knew I was done for. I stood there, looking at the ground, hot dog in my left hand, and right hand where I felt the stuck dog right below my voice box. I was trying my hardest to push or vomit it out. I began to think, 'I'm gonna die.' That very second, I felt the urge to look up. To my left not three feet away was a tiny little old lady." "I was in Vietnam, '68–'69, in armor, tanks. My crew and I were out in the field guarding a highway on a cleared dirt section on the side of a hill. The army was great about making sure we got at least one hot meal a day. This one morning, believe it or not, we were all chipper, had just had a hot breakfast, and were standing behind our 'track' (slang for tank). There was a slight breeze blowing. I heard something new, I heard it again, and then I asked my crew, three of them, 'Did you hear something?' They all said no. I heard it again and told the guys, 'Let's move over there,' motioning about fifty feet away. Well, we moved, stopped, turned around, and WHAM! An enemy rocket, 122mm, hit right where we'd been standing!" "Several years ago, my husband and I were in a Lowe's store. My husband had a history of heart issues and had a pacemaker as well as a defibrillator. He was 6'3" and weighed over 200 pounds at the time. Suddenly, he told me that he was feeling unwell and knew he was going down. I looked ahead and saw a lawn swing on display. I told him to try to get to the swing. He didn't make it and started to fall. The store had a concrete floor, and I knew I had to keep his head from hitting it. I was trying to hold onto his upper body and ease him down, but I was struggling, and there was no one around us. Suddenly, a pair of tan leather shoes — obviously expensive, handmade, and I assumed Italian — appeared, and two slender, tanned arms slid under my husband's shoulders, just inches from the floor, and very gently laid him down." "My husband and I went out to lunch one afternoon. The restaurant had TVs hanging from the ceiling, and one of them was in the corner next to our table. As soon as we sat down, I kept hearing a voice telling me to go to the bathroom. At first, I ignored it. I didn't need to go, but it was so persistent that I decided just to go and wash my hands. I was in the bathroom for about 30 seconds when I heard a huge crash. When I went back out to the dining room, I realized that the TV above our table had fallen and landed on top of the chair I had just been sitting in. Thank God I listened to that voice!" "In 2014, my husband was suffering from ulcerative colitis. It was so bad that he was wasting away, delirious and needing regular blood transfusions. We opted for surgery and had the date set for mid-September. One day in late August, I was chatting with a friend when I suddenly 'knew' that he needed the surgery right away. I was so certain that I jumped off the phone and called his surgeon's office to find out how to get him in sooner. That night, I took him to the ER, and he had the surgery three days later. His colon was so disintegrated that they had to change the surgery they were going to perform. Six weeks and four surgeries later, he came home. That message was so powerful that I never questioned whether it was true or where it came from." "One day, I was on my way out the door to drive to work. I had a pair of open-toed, flat shoes on. I was home alone, but I heard a disembodied voice telling me to put on boots. So, I immediately turned around and put on a pair of boots. As I drove to work, traffic came to a stop, and the truck behind me did not slow down like the rest of us. It plowed into me, pushing my car into the van in front of me. The front end of my car was crushed, all the airbags deployed, and the dashboard dropped onto my foot, cutting right into the top of my boot. If I had not changed my shoes that day, I would have suffered a deep gash on top of my foot. The car was totaled, but thankfully I was OK, just shaken up. This happened at least 10 years ago, and I still have those boots in my closet." I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, from left: Tariq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, 2025. ph: Brook Rushton /© Columbia Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection And finally, "When I was young, around 9 years old, I had to have pretty major surgeries for a birth defect. I was feeling sick, in pain, and frustrated about not being able to sleep or get out of bed. When I rang the bell for the night nurses to help me to the toilet, a smiling man dressed all in white would come straight away and help me. He was so happy and peaceful, with the biggest smile and a bright aura to him. He always came straight to me as soon as the bell rang. The next day (after the second night of his help), I asked another nurse if he would be on duty that night. The staff were very confused, even after my description of him. She told me there weren't any male staffers on duty those past two nights and that none of the porters or other staff wore all white or would have been answering bells on the ward." Thank you to everyone kind enough to share their stories! Have you ever had a "third man syndrome" experience like these? If so, I'd love if you'd tell us your story in the comments below or via this completely anonymous form. If you enjoyed these stories, you can read a bunch more of them here.
Daily Mail
28-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Ernest Shackleton's stranded Endurance expedition crew played 'football with the penguins', unearthed logbook and letters reveal
A revealing log book written by a member of the ill-fated Endurance expedition in the Antarctic has emerged after 108 years. Aubrey Ninnis told his sweetheart of being trapped in pack ice and playing 'too funny for words' football with penguins during the 1914-1917 adventure. The expedition, which was led by the legendary British explorer Ernest Shackleton, ended in disaster, as his ship the Endurance got stranded amidst the freezing conditions and had to be abandoned. Ninnis was aboard supply ship Aurora, which also got stranded. It was carried into the open waters of the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean. It was not until March 1916, almost a year later, that the ship was released from the ice and made the return passage for New Zealand. Throughout the expedition, Ninnis kept a daily log and wrote letters to his sweetheart Ethel Douglas recounting the incredible sights he encountered. He was both a wireless operator and keen photographer on the expedition, with his log book providing a detailed account of life on board the ship between December 1914 and May 1916. In one extract, he said that his ship felt 'about as strong as a matchbox' compared to the pack ice which could crush them. He wrote: 'Ice packed and very thick, yet we seem to be shifting N. all the time, slowly... about as strong as a matchbox compared to the terrible pressure of ice. 'The groan kept rising to a high shriek... and then the crack, crack of the squeeze would occur.' The survival of Shackleton and his crew - first in the pack ice and then on their journey back to safety - has been remembered as one of the greatest feats of human resilience. In another entry, Ninnis shares the precarious nature of their predicament as he writes 'food very short, fuel and oil will be practically exhausted'. Being in such close proximity to crewmates with no means of escape took its toll as he lamented 'no sensible conversations ever'. It was a far cry from the early months of the expedition, which he joyously described in the log book. He wrote: 'Had a game of football with the penguins tonight - too funny for words.' Ninnis also made a pilgrimage to the hut used by Captain Robert Scott, who perished during the doomed Terra Nova expedition on their return from the South Pole in 1912. He wrote: 'Very sad to me for I came across the things that compelled the thought of Cpt. Scott... the bunk with the label upon it just plain Cpt. Oates, the bunk that brave men used.' The log book remained in Ethel's family for a century but has now sold at auction for £46,000 after a bidding war. A spokesperson at auctioneers Bonhams, of Knightsbridge, who sold the logbook, said: 'Aurora had been tasked with laying supply depots along the route of Shackleton's famously ill-fated attempt to cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. 'Caught in heavy pack ice, she was carried into the open waters of the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean, leaving ten men from the shore party stranded with minimal supplies and equipment. 'It was not until March 1916, almost a year later, that the ship was released from the ice and the Aurora was able to make return passage for New Zealand. 'Ninnis returned on the Relief Expedition in January 1917 as purser, under the captaincy of John King Davis, and with Shackleton aboard, to rescue the seven surviving members of the shore party. 'As well as giving a first-hand account of the practical challenges of the expedition, this diary gives a crucial insight into the author's inner thoughts and preoccupations. 'Ninnis speaks of facing the many dangers in a state of constant anxiety, the lack of sleep, difficulties of being trapped with his fellow shipmates.' Endurance became trapped in pack ice in 1915, prompting Shackleton and his crew to eventually abandon it. In November that year, the sea ice finally holed and sank the vessel. In 2022, the wreck of the Endurance was found remarkably preserved. After months spent in makeshift camps as the ice drifted northwards, Shackleton and his men took to lifeboats to reach the inhospitable and uninhabited Elephant Island. In April 1915 Shackleton and five others then made an epic 800-mile open-boat journey in the hope of reaching South Georgia and organising the rescue of the stranded 22 man crew. The men left behind were not recovered until August 30, 1916, after a rescue ship reached them. All survived.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Goodwood: Call to action for oceans at Future Lab
Sir David Attenborough warned in his latest film Ocean that humanity still knows more about space than the deep sea and issued a plea to protect the planet's last great wilderness. The message was echoed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where Future Lab, an immersive exhibition, showcased cutting-edge marine science and technology at the West Sussex the exhibits was a 3D-printed model of The Endurance shipwreck which was discovered in 2022 after sinking on an Antarctic expedition in 1914. The event highlighted how innovation is helping scientists explore the ocean floor, track marine life, and preserve fragile ecosystems. Future Lab also showcased the Seabed 2030 project, which aims to map the entire ocean floor by the end of the Hall, from the project, told BBC Radio Sussex: "We still don't have a complete map of the seabed. "People say we know more about the moon than the ocean - and they are right."The Future Lab also featured a 1.5m (4.9ft) model of The Endurance, the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton during his ill-fated expedition. The vessel was crushed by ice and sank in the Weddell Sea, but was found well-preserved more than a century later in 2022. Elena Lewendon from the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, which led the discovery, said: "It was pitch black down there, but the Antarctic Circumpolar Current protects the wreck from decay. We could still see paint on the hull." The team used defence-grade laser scanning and stitched together 25,000 high-resolution images to create a digital model accurate to the resulting 3D print, produced over 350 hours, includes remarkable details such as intact railings, the ship's wheel, and even artefacts like a flare gun believed to have been fired by Shackleton himself. "Most of the damage happened at the surface as the ship was crushed," said Ms Lewendon. "It went down 3,008 metres with quite a whack."Shackleton, who later lived in Eastbourne, East Sussex, famously sent a telegram to the press - not his wife - after returning via the Falklands.
ITV News
09-06-2025
- Science
- ITV News
Seasickness, spotting icebergs and keeping the crew fed: Life on board an Antarctic expedition
ITV News Science Correspondent shows what life is like on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough on an expedition deep within the Antarctic Circle The British research ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough has travelled through an area of Antarctica that would have been impassable 30 years ago at this time of year. That's because the area the ship navigates with ease would have been solid ice. No other British ship has made the journey since the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition, when his ship became trapped in the pack ice and sank in 1915. Fast forward 110 years - after global warming has caused the ice to melt - and ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew is the only journalist on board the British ship. From the chef keeping crew members fed to the captain keeping a lookout for icebergs, he speaks to those on board about what life is like on an Antarctic expedition.
