News round-up

Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from right here in the UK, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on our various social media @scubadivermag www.scubadivermag.com/news

ENDURANCE DISCOVERED ‘IN AMAZING CONDITION’

The Endurance22 Expedition, which has been

employing state-of-the-art technology in the search for the fabled Endurance, has announced that Shackleton’s ship was discovered in early March lying in over 3,000m of water and ‘in amazing condition’.

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s vessel has not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. Now, 100 years after the explorer’s death, his ship has been located – just four miles south of the position originally recorded by Captain Worsley as the crew abandoned the stricken vessel. The Endurance is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that the wreck would not be touched or disturbed in any way while it is being filmed and surveyed.

Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration on the expedition, said: “We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see ‘Endurance’ arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.

“This is a milestone in polar history. However, it is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet. We hope our discovery will engage young people and inspire them with the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed Endurance to Antarctica. “We pay tribute to the navigational skills of Captain Frank Worsley, the Captain of the Endurance, whose detailed records were invaluable in our quest to locate the wreck.”

He added: “I would like to thank my colleagues of The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust for enabling this extraordinary expedition to take place, as well as Saab for their technology, and the whole team of dedicated experts who have been involved in this monumental discovery.”

Dr John Shears, Expedition Leader, said: “The Endurance22 expedition has reached its goal. We have made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world’s most-challenging shipwreck search.

“In addition, we have undertaken important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the global climate and environment, and have conducted an unprecedented educational outreach programme, with live broadcasting from on board, allowing new generations from around the world to engage with Endurance22 and become inspired by the amazing stories of polar exploration, and what human beings can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together.”

PHOTOGRAPHY © FALKLANDS MARITIME HERITAGE TRUST AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

What happened to Endurance?

It was Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ambition to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to the Ross Sea, and that was the focus of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The Ross Sea Party, which was landed at Hut Point on Ross Island, had the task of laying supply dumps for Shackleton’s crossing party, and achieved its objective, but at the cost of three lives lost.

In the Weddell Sea, Endurance never reached land and became trapped in the dense pack ice and the 28 men on board eventually had no choice but to abandon ship. After months spent in makeshift camps on the ice floes drifting northwards, the party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island.

Shackleton and five others then made an extraordinary 800-mile openboat journey in the lifeboat James Caird to reach South Georgia. Shackleton and two others then crossed the mountainous island to the whaling station at Stromness. From there, Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life.

Endurance22 documentary coming in the autumn. Set to premiere this autumn as part of National Geographic’s Explorer series, this documentary will air globally on Nat Geo in 172 countries and 43 languages before it heads to Disney+. n

CARL SPENCER AWARDED ‘TRIDENT IN MEMORIAM’

Carl Spencer – self-proclaimed ‘I’m only a plumber from Cannock – was an experienced and well-respected technical diver who was involved in a plethora of projects and expeditions, including the Bluebird Project, X5, Carpathia, Titanic and Britannic.

Sadly, Carl lost his life on 24 May 2009 on Britannic, and now he has been recognised by The International Academy of Underwater Sciences and Techniques for his diving career and achievements with the ‘Trident in Memoriam‘ award.

On Sunday 6 March, Carl’s family were presented with the ‘Trident’ in Memoriam‘ award on the Main Stage at the GO Diving Show at the NAEC Stoneleigh by tech diver Edoardo Pavia. Very few have been awarded this over the years, and the Spencer family want to continue encouraging youngsters to learn about the deep blue, so it was fitting the ceremony took place straight after a Youth Panel of teenage divers had been talking about what they love about scuba diving.

While the so-called ‘ship of gold’ – the SS Central America – is most famous for its haul of tens of millions of pounds worth of nuggets, ingots and coins, it is now finding new fame for a series of 19th century portraits that have been recovered from the seabed.

British maritime archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley is shining a light on these eerie, but strikingly beautiful, portraits, which have survived been on the bottom of the Atlantic since the ship went down in 1857 off the coast of South Carolina, with the loss of 425 lives.

He explained: “Glass plate photos had preserved the faces of miners, merchants and their families; staring up at the living © from the seabed.”

Kingsley went on: “While the SS Central America is known as the ‘ship of gold’, for me, the gold is a distraction. The glass plates are the true star treasures from this wreck. There’s dozens more down there that I hope one day will be saved too.”

The images of the glass plates appear in the latest issue of Wreckwatch – the online magazine edited by Kingsley – even though they were recovered back in 2014. There is a whole legal furore surrounding the wreck, the treasures and those who found it. Kingsley added: “This is the largest cache of early photographs found at sea – and unpublished until now. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to actually see faces from the deep.”

Jason Brown ©

EERIE PHOTOGRAPHS EMERGE FROM ‘SHIP OF GOLD’

Courtesy of the California Gold Marketing Group

GREAT BARRIER REEF BLEACHING AGAIN

© The Ocean Agency / XL Catlin Seaview Survey / Richard Vevers

A new major coral-bleaching event has occurred on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the sixth since the global event of 1998, and the fourth in the past six years. And the underwater heatwave is affecting the reef just as international experts are expected in Queensland to re-assess its World Heritage Site status.

The UNESCO / IUCN monitoring mission visit was scheduled last year, when the GBR narrowly avoided being placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. At the time Australia was warned that ‘accelerated action at all possible levels is required to address the threat from climate change in accordance with the Paris Agreement’.

Widespread bleaching damage is now occurring on the GBR at a rate of more than once every two years. “Coral-bleaching is directly attributable to climate change caused by rising global greenhouse-gas emissions,” says Richard Leck, head of oceans at conservation body WWF-Australia. “Reducing Australia’s domestic and exported emissions fast, this decade, is the main solution within our control.”

To have any chance of keeping ocean temperature rises below 1.5°C, it has been calculated that Australia’s domestic emissions must be limited to 4 billion tonnes. Yet according to new independent analysis by Climate Resource scientists commissioned by WWF-Australia, by the nation’s target date for reaching net zero, those emissions will be 9.6 billion tonnes.

“We’re going to blow our emissions budget by more than double,” says Leck. “We expect the IUCN and UNESCO experts will be given an opportunity to witness first-hand what an underwater heatwave does to the reef. It’s not too late for Australia to make changes that give the reef the best chance of survival and avoid downgrading its World Heritage status.”

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AMPHORA FOUND OFF MALLORCA BEACH

A massive haul of 300 ancient amphora dating back to the 3rd or 4th century have been recovered from a wreck just off a busy tourist beach in Mallorca, and it has been hailed as one of the most-significant shipwreck finds in the Mediterranean.

A couple spotted some broken fragments of amphora back in July 2019, which led to maritime archaeologists fully investigating the site and making the discovery of the Roman merchant wreck in just 2m of water off Ca’n Pastilla Beach in the Bay of Palma.

Divers have now finished raising the contents of the ancient vessel, and many of the clay amphora have retained not only remnants of their contents, but the inscriptions painted on the outside – amazing considering they have languished underwater for over 1,700 years.

Also recovered were two intact shoes, one made of leather and the other, espadrille-style, of esparto rope; a cooking pot; an oil lamp bearing the symbol of the goddess Diana; and a woodworking drill.

The project to recover the contents of the vessel, which was felt to be at risk of damage from waves due to the shallow location, not to mention potential looters, became part of Aequeomallornauta, run by regional authority the Conseil de Mallorca and maritime archaeologists from the universities of the Balearic Islands, Barcelona and Cadiz.

Now known as the ‘Ses Fontanelles’ wreck, the 12-metrelong vessel is thought likely to have anchored at the site, and to have sunk when a storm forced it onto rocks.

© Arqueomallornauta / Consell de Mallorca / Universities of the Balearic Islands, Barcelona & Cadiz

GREENLAND SHARK WASHES UP ON CORNISH BEACH

The body of a Greenland shark was found on the beach in Newlyn Harbour, near Penzance, on Sunday 13 March – only the second one ever recorded in UK waters.

Abby Crosby, from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, saw the animal on the beach and said: “It’s absolutely amazing that one has come into Cornwall. It shows just how incredible our coast and seas are.”

Prof Rosie Woodruffe, from the Institute of Zoology, identified the creature as a Greenland shark on Twitter.

Unfortunately, it was washed back out to sea before experts could fully examine the rare creature.

However, the dead shark was later located floating out at sea by the crew of the Mermaid Pleasure Trips, Penzance vessel Vanessa Jane, who were out on a crew-training session. They spotted the corpse and initially thought it was a dolphin or seal, until they got closer and realised it was much, much bigger. They managed to take the shark in tow and took it back to land, where they handed it off to the Marine Strandings Network, who have now sent it off to be examined.

This is only the second record of Greenland sharks, also known as sleeper sharks, to strand in the UK, so this is an extremely rare find and exciting for fisheries biologists. The shark will now be post-mortemed by vet pathologist James as part of the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme- UK strandings.

© Rosie Woodroffe

KRAKEN RUM DONATES TO PADI AWARE

The second limited-edition bottle of Kraken Rum from the ‘Unknown Deep‘ collection has a bioluminescence finish, and comes in a distressed diving cage.

And ‘The Beast’ is doing its bit for charity as well, with a donation of £1 for the sale of every bottle of Kraken Rum going to marine conservation group PADI AWARE to aid in their mission to reduce ocean debris by half in targeted countries within the next decade.

Ian Amos, Operations Co-ordinator at PADI AWARE, said: “Kraken Rum has a rich history of supporting marine life, from the smallest sea critters to the biggest sea-dwellers, so we’re proud to be working together once again to save and protect the ocean. Every single bottle sold will help us continue our vital work of removing ocean debris, as well as training new volunteers to help us make an even bigger splash in 2022.”

The limited-edition Kraken Rum is available from Amazon and from ‘The Beast’s online portal, www.theleagueofdarkness.co.uk

NDAC TO BECOME ‘RESEARCH FACILITY’

The UK diving fraternity were dismayed by the news that the popular National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC) in Tidenham had closed at the end of February, and now it seems the quarry will have a new life as an underwater research facility. As reported in Scuba Diver last month, NDAC closed its doors with no real explanation given by the then-owners. Now news reports have stated that councillors in the Forest of Dean were recently given a confidential briefing about the potential future of the site, and were told that it would be used for research and development for equipment to enable people to live deep underwater.

The company in question has already bought the quarry, and is understood to be set to invest £150m into the project, which would employ 100 people.

A councillor told Gloucestershire Live: “They didn’t tell us their company name. We were just told it was for a deep engineering facility. They are also understood to be talking to Cornwall Council.

“They are doing research and development for equipment for people to be able to live in pods quite deep under the water.

“That’s all the information councillors were given. Councillors are all for it because it will put the Forest on the map, but the company is very selective about the information they are giving out.”

© NDAC

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