Canadian scientists have created highly detailed 3D digital twins of the final ships used by polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott, after a deep-sea expedition to the Labrador Sea. The project, led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), aims to preserve the wrecks and inspire a new generation of explorers.
Discovery of the Wrecks
The 21-day expedition began on 2 July from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Using the submersible Alvin, the team visited the Quest, Shackleton's ship that sank in 1962, and the Terra Nova, Scott's ship that sank in 1943. Both lie more than 1,000 feet (305 metres) below the surface.
John Geiger, CEO of the RCGS and expedition leader, described the experience: "To see a very large ship in the abyss, and to realise you are among the first humans to see it, and to realise that it is largely intact is a powerful experience. It moves you."
Digital Preservation
The team used underwater imaging technology developed by the Canadian company Voyis to capture thousands of high-resolution images, which were then "knitted together" to create detailed 3D models. "We're scanning these wrecks and collecting thousands of high-resolution 3D images that are then kind of knitted together on the spot. We're seeing these ships magically appear through this process in front of us on the screen," said Geiger. "It's just mind-boggling."
Geiger noted that the project represents a "golden era for shipwreck hunting and investigating," as technological leaps allow researchers to better map and model the final resting sites of famed ships.
Historical Context
Shackleton was a titan of the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration. His 1914 expedition on the Endurance ended when the ship was trapped and crushed by ice, but he saved his entire crew. He died of a heart attack in 1922 on the Quest, which sank in 1962 and was discovered in 2024. Scott's Terra Nova carried him and his crew to Antarctica in 1910; Scott reached the South Pole in 1912 but died on the return journey. The Terra Nova later sank in 1943.
Scientific and Inspirational Goals
Geiger said the aim of the expedition was to inspire new explorers. "There's so little of the ocean that's mapped. The territorial waters of Canada are largely unmapped in the Arctic. There's so little we know and I'm staggered at the ignorance we have about the oceans and about ocean life."
Marine biologists were "over the moon" about the chance to study wildlife around the wrecks. The crews also observed the impact of deep-sea fishing trawlers, with nets partially covering the wrecks.
Technological Advances
Recent advances in submersible technology have opened new frontiers. Five years ago, the Alvin was approved to extend its depth range from 14,700 feet to 21,300 feet. Benen ElShakhs, pilot for the Terra Nova dive, said: "This opens up a lot of new territory for us. Most of what we do is scientific research, and so staring at a wood ship from over 100 years ago that was in Antarctica, that now sits more than 500 below the surface, is a wild experience. If there wasn't a titanium hull and a lot of sea water [between the Alvin and the wreck], you feel like you could just reach out and touch it."
Human Element
Geiger emphasised the importance of human exploration: "Future expeditions will surely use robots and automated vehicles. But I don't think we can ever abandon, when possible, the human role in exploration. Because what is lost is poetry, romance and wonder. Those are not the characteristics of machines. They are the uniquely human threads that connect us to the past – and what push us forward."
