First images show Shackleton’s Quest wreck tangled in nets

The first detailed images of Quest, the final ship of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, have been captured by an international expedition in the Labrador Sea, revealing a historic wreck entangled in fishing gear but now teeming with marine life. The expedition, led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) in partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), obtained the footage this month using the remotely operated vehicle Falcon and the crewed submersible Alvin.

The wreck of the wooden-hulled vessel was initially discovered and located by sonar in June 2024, resting approximately 390 meters (1,280 feet) below the surface about 85 kilometers off Labrador's east coast. The recent mission, dubbed the 2026 Heroic Age Expedition and launched on July 2, marks the first close visual inspection of the site in over six decades.

Researchers reported that while the ship's bow, deck, and distinctive portholes remain visible and the wreck is largely intact, it is heavily obscured and damaged by abandoned fishing nets, trawl doors, and other gear. The bridge structure is missing, likely torn away either during the sinking or by subsequent trawling...