In 1915, the famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out on an Antarctic expedition aboard his ship, Endurance. Unfortunately, the ship became trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea and was eventually crushed and sunk. For more than 100 years, the exact location of the wreck remained a mystery.

In 2022, a team of explorers and scientists launched a new expedition to the Weddell Sea with one important goal: to find the lost shipwreck of Endurance.

The Weddell Sea is one of the most challenging places on Earth. It is covered with drifting sea ice and scattered with enormous icebergs. To search for the wreck, the expedition’s captain had to carefully plan a new navigation route every day. The ship could only scan a small section of the seabed at a time, so each route had to be designed to cover as much area as possible while safely avoiding dangerous ice.

The captain used precise navigation instructions to guide the ship through the icy waters. Every turn, movement, and change of direction had to be carefully planned and followed.

Now it’s your turn to help!

In the following 32 coding challenges, you will follow a series of navigation routes, just like the captain and crew did during their search. By using programming instructions to guide the expedition through the Weddell Sea, you will explore different areas and gradually narrow down the possible location of the famous shipwreck.

Can you successfully follow all 32 navigation routes and help locate the lost Endurance?

Click on the picture below to access this activity:

Using a Autonomous Underwater Vehicle/Submarine (AUV)

To scan the seabed more than 3,000m below sea level each across a small delimited area of the Weddell Sea, the scientists and crew on board the expedition ship used a remote controlled submarine called an AUV: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. You can find out more about the AUV used on this expedition by completing this extra Python challenge: Endurance Shipwreck Search Expedition