![A piece of rock.](/sites/default/files/styles/50/public/2023-11/392951861_627863932871420_2183925914336986876_n.jpg?itok=t5J595ec)
As part of our twentieth anniversary celebration in October, we featured our small phyllite sample from Point Wild, a narrow point on the north coast of Elephant Island. This tiny bit of land is most known for being a key location in Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition. The crew camped and managed to survive at Point Wild for four months of Antarctic winter before being rescued in August 1916.
![Black and white photo of a Group posing for the image.](/sites/default/files/styles/33/public/2023-11/392875947_627867636204383_7824513921523836512_n.jpg?itok=Vc_wMzTx)
![An abandoned shipwreck.](/sites/default/files/styles/33/public/2023-11/392861146_627866496204497_7497400768292080925_n.jpg?itok=CcFuu_RI)
While the Endurance sunk on November 21, 1915, the wreckage was recently found at a depth of 3,008 meters in the Weddell Sea in March of 2022. It was only about 7km south of the location fixed by Frank Worsley (the ship's captain), who used a sextant to record the position of its sinking after several months of the ship being surrounded by and eventually crushed by ice.
Photo credits: Erica Maletic, National Geographic
To find out more about the collection, visit the Polar Rock Repository's database.