鈥淭he Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton鈥檚 Endurance鈥� by Mensun Bound (Mariner Books)
That old proverb your mother taught you 鈥� 鈥渋f at first you don鈥檛 succeed, try, try again鈥� 鈥� applies to marine archaeology just as it does to other aspects of life. That鈥檚 the lesson of a new work of nonfiction from Mensun Bound, one of the world鈥檚 foremost shipwreck hunters, who failed in 2019 to find Sir Ernest Shackleton鈥檚 鈥淓ndurance鈥� on the bottom of Antarctica鈥檚 Weddell Sea, but succeeded three years later.
A history lesson for those not steeped in Shackleton lore: He鈥檚 the guy who lost the race to the South Pole in the first part of the 20th century, then became the guy who tried to sail across Antarctica via that same pole, only to abandon his ship when trapped in the ice.
The ship, named 鈥淓ndurance,鈥� broke apart under the crushing pressure and sank on Nov. 21, 1915, as Shackleton and his crew watched from a camp they set up on an ice floe about a mile away. Miraculously, they spent five months surviving on the ice before rowing three lifeboats almost 350 miles to an uninhabited island, where most of them stayed behind as Shackleton and a few mates navigated one of the lifeboats an additional 800 miles across open sea to reach South Georgia island, where their ill-fated journey began almost a year and a half prior. In the end, all 28 members of the crew, along with their diaries, survived to tell a story that captivated the world and created one of maritime history鈥檚 greatest mysteries: Where is the watery grave of the Endurance?
Enter Bound, a maritime archaeologist who grew up on the Falkland Islands, fascinated by Shackleton鈥檚 exploits. At the tail end of a legendary career of his own locating and diving to some of the most iconic shipwrecks around the world, Bound signs on as the 鈥渄irector of exploration鈥� of not one, but two attempts, to locate the Endurance.
The first, in 2019, is scuttled after the onset of the Antarctic winter and the loss of the submersible that scans the ocean floor. In 2022, the expedition relaunches with many of the same crew and even better shipwreck-seeking technology, and 鈥� spoiler alert 鈥� the Endurance is discovered, remarkably preserved, more than 106 years after she sank. The book recounts both of the expeditions in great detail, framed as Bound鈥檚 diary entries recounting events, and often weaving in Shackleton history.
Bound鈥檚 passion for what he鈥檚 doing and his love for the most unexplored geography on Earth is evident on every page. His writing blends the required scientific explanations with what touches on poetry. Here he is on deck in 2019 watching a sunset: 鈥淚t seemed almost as if we had trespassed into some polar hidey-hole where the gods go to drain their rainbows.鈥�
It鈥檚 captivating stuff, even for readers who will never see an iceberg.
Rob Merrill, The Associated Press
