Deep-Sea Expedition Builds Digital Twins of Shackleton's and Scott's Polar Shipwrecks

Canadian scientists dove more than 1,000 feet into the Labrador Sea to capture the remains of famed exploration vessels in 3D

Scientists have created detailed 3D digital reconstructions of shipwrecks tied to polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott after a deep-sea expedition off the coast of Canada, according to The Guardian.

The team traveled more than 1,000 feet, or roughly 305 meters, below the surface of the Labrador Sea to reach the remains of the final vessel used by Shackleton, one of the most storied figures in the history of Antarctic exploration. Researchers described the effort as taking place during what they called a "golden era for shipwreck investigating," as improving submersible and imaging technology allows scientists to document wrecks once considered too remote or too deep to study in detail.

The expedition's Canadian scientists produced digital models, or "digital twins," of the wrecks, preserving their condition in a form that can be studied, displayed and shared without disturbing the physical remains resting on the seafloor. The project adds to a growing archive of digitally preserved maritime history connected to the golden age of polar exploration, a period that has retained enduring public fascination more than a century after Shackleton's and Scott's expeditions captured the world's attention.

The reconstructions offer researchers and the public a new way to examine vessels that have been inaccessible for decades, deep beneath frigid, dark waters far from shore.

— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian.