Legendary Explorer Who Found Wreck of Legendary Explorer Lectures Tonight at Seaport Museum
If there is a factual equivalent to the fictional Indiana Jones, his name is Mensun Bound. One of the world’s leading marine archaeologists, Mr. Bound is known to the public for having discovered the wreck of the Endurance, an Antarctic exploration vessel that became trapped in sea ice near the South Pole in January, 1915, only to be crushed and dragged under 11 months later.
Led by fabled explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, the Endurance’s crew of 28 survived. They were rescued in August, 1916, after Shackleton and five volunteers loaded a small, open-topped boat (salvaged from Endurance before it sank) with provisions and sailed across 800 miles of rough seas on a 16-day voyage to an inhabited island, in order to summon help. (The crew had been recruited by an ad Shackleton placed in the Times of London, which read: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”)
The wreck of the Endurance was discovered last year, during an expedition led by Mr. Bound aboard the South African icebreaking research ship S. A. Agulhas II. Endurance was found in water nearly 10,000 feet deep, in a feat comparable to the successful search for the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.
Tonight (Tuesday, September 26), Mr. Bound will offer a free lecture describing his voyage of discovery, hosted by the South Street Seaport Museum aboard the 1885 tall ship Wavertree, docked at Pier 16. The program will be moderated by Museum president Captain Jonathan Boulware, and is presented in partnership with the National Maritime Historical Society.
Mr. Bound has a personal connection to the Wavertree, which is part of the Seaport Museum’s fleet of historical vessels. His great-grandfather, William Biggs, was a shipwright and a carpenter in South America who, in the early 1990s, appears to surveyed the damage to Wavertree after her mast was broken off while attempting to round Cape Horn. Decades later, Wavertree was restored and became part of the Museum’s collection.
In addition to regaling the audience with his adventures in locating the Endurance, Mr. Bound will share insights about how the shifting climate and escalating global temperatures pose an ongoing threat to historic shipwreck sites.