In 1915, just one year after setting sail for Antarctica, Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance became trapped in pack ice. The shifting ice floes then crushed the vessel until it sank 3000 metres to the bottom of the Weddell Sea. What followed is one of the greatest polar expedition survival stories in history, but such a tale, wrought with adventure and peril, deserves to be told in full and so shall be saved for another day.
At present, the Endurance I’m interested in is that of the shipwreck which is said to be living on in a “brilliant state of preservation”. The site was found by deep-sea explorers almost 107 years after it first sank. And despite only being located in 2022, it had preemptively been awarded ‘protected historic site and monument’ status much earlier.
As the wreck is too deep for divers to explore, the Endurance22 Expedition used autonomous underwater vehicles to capture what would be the first images of the wreck since expedition member Frank Hurley’s iconic shots in 1915.
So after a century spent resting on the ocean floor, it seems many deep-sea creatures, similar to those we recently met, have had the time to move in and get comfy. Marine biologists who viewed the photographs immediately identified several species of filter-feeders who had seized the opportunity to settle down in a fixed location. There are likely quite a few shipwrecks on the Antarctic seabed thanks to a great many unsuccessful expeditions over the years and the rigid waters keeping wood-eating bacteria at bay.
Among the deep-sea oasis, biologists spotted sea anemones, sea squirts1, sea sponges, sea stars, and sea lilies. Huw Griffiths, a marine biogeographer at the British Antarctic Survey, gave some insights into exactly what sea lilies are explaining that although they look like a simple plant, hence the name, they are ancient deep-sea invertebrates and have existed for around 480 million years.
Filter-feeders2, like those found on the wreck, survive by eating ‘marine snow’ aka dead algae, tiny animals, and waste matter that falls from the surface through the water column. These creatures are usually stationary so the Endurance shipwreck – a surprisingly stable surface to rest on – would have been prime real estate when it finally came to rest on the seabed.
Among the filter-feeders, a surprising discovery was made: a ghostly-white creature which is either a squat lobster or a yeti crab. This was the only mobile resident captured on camera and whatever it may be, it is the first recorded instance of a crab living in the Weddell Sea.
Despite warming ocean temperatures, thankfully, these creatures will be largely sheltered from the effects of the Climate Crisis. Temperatures are very slow to change in such extreme environments and though the Southern Ocean is becoming more acidic, most deep-sea filter-feeders lack a skeleton or a shell that can easily dissolve. And so, the Endurance endures, not just as a historical monument but as a sanctuary for deep-sea life in a changing world.
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Amie 🐋
No, I didn’t make them up. Apparently, sea squirts don’t do much and are essentially just sacks of liquid which sounds like a fun existence. They are able to cycle water in and out of their syphons to catch and eat any floating debris which is quite impressive for a sack.
As no light penetrates very deep in Antarctic waters, plants that rely on photosynthesis can’t live there.
What a lovely read!
Excellent!