
Antarctic Weddell expedition targets Shackleton's lost ship - DanBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47000896
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_djo_
The ship being used for the expedition, the SA Agulhas II, is an Antarctic
research ship owned and operated by the South African government.

Its regular duties are to resupply and support the South African National
Antarctic Expedition (SANAE IV) base in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, as well
as the country's sub-antarctic research stations at Marion and Prince Edward
Islands.

While searching for the _Endurance_ is the headline-grabbing (and undoubtedly
interesting) part of this expedition, its real purpose is to study the Larsen
C ice shelf and the conditions that led to the creation of the massive 5,800
Iceberg A-68 in 2017. Understanding how and why that happened will improve
climate models of the Antarctic region and provide better predictions about
the impact of climate change.

It's a really difficult expedition though, with only a slim chance of success
because of the area's conditions.

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bacon_waffle
So cool!

Shackleton's Endurance story is amazing, and don't miss out on the Ross Sea
Party's part. The goal of the overall expedition was to cross the continent;
Shackleton's party would make a series of depots to Pole, while the Ross Sea
party was laying them from the other side so Shackleton could traverse the
continent. Shackleton famously lost Endurance though, so never came over land.
Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party lost their ship too, and still managed to lay a
series of depots.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sea_party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sea_party)

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timthorn
There was a good TV film of the story a while back:
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272839/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272839/)

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jacquesm
It's also the inspiration for this song:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js7qiqKphbI&t=774s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js7qiqKphbI&t=774s)

~~~
jfk13
Is it? That sounds more like [http://farhorizons.hull.ac.uk/baffin-bay-the-
isabella-sir-jo...](http://farhorizons.hull.ac.uk/baffin-bay-the-isabella-sir-
john-ross-and-the-search-for-the-northwest-passage/)

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shatnersbassoon
Would you rather live under a boat on Elephant Island for an Antarctic winter
or take part in the battle of the Somme? they happened at the same time.

~~~
neaden
Well no one died on Elephant Island so I guess that.

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phkahler
If you have not read "Endurance" I can only say you've missed out on the
greatest adventure story ever told. Don't read about it first, just read it.
There are potential spoilers if you're not familiar with it.

Now if I could only remember which version of the book I read...

~~~
jfk13
After you've read one of the more conventional accounts, you might also enjoy
_Mrs Chippy 's Last Expedition_, a delightful re-telling drawn from the
diaries kept by the ship's carpenter's cat...

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128731.Mrs_Chippy_s_Last...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128731.Mrs_Chippy_s_Last_Expedition)

