Expedition led by RCGS captures images of Shackleton’s final ship
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has released the first images of the wreck of Quest, the final ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, which lies on the seabed of the Labrador Sea. The expedition, conducted in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, used advanced technology to capture the footage approximately 400 metres below the surface.
Shackleton died aboard Quest in 1922. The ship was the explorer’s final vessel and was discovered in 2024. The newly released images provide the first close-up look at the wreck since its sinking.
The expedition launched July 2 from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, as a 21-day mission funded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society through donors and corporate sponsors. After surveying Quest, the team plans to move north to the wreck of Terra Nova, the ship of explorer Robert Falcon Scott, which rests about 550 feet below the surface off the south coast of Greenland.