Expedition to Create 3D Digital Twins of Polar Shipwrecks Quest and Terra Nova

This month, a global team of scientists embarked on a 21-day mission to capture the underwater remnants of two historic polar vessels: Quest and Terra Nova. Spearheaded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the survey in the Labrador Sea employs advanced underwater imaging to produce three-dimensional models of the wrecks. These ships are linked to the renowned explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott, who were competitors during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1898-1922). Terra Nova, which sank due to a boiler-room incident in 1943, was rediscovered in 2012, while Quest was found in 2024 after being crushed by ice in 1962. The goal of the expedition is to motivate a new generation of explorers through innovative documentation.