Washington College to Host Marine Archaeologist Mensun Bound

Mensun Bound

Marine Archaeologist Mensun Bound will speak at Washington College about his role as the director of exploration on the expedition that discovered Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, Endurance, near Antarctica in 2022. He will share his firsthand account of the historic discovery during the talk, his first appearance on the East Coast since the discovery and the release of his new book, The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance.

Bound’s talk will occur April 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Decker Theatre at Washington College’s Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts. Guests are invited to a book signing and reception with the speaker following his talk. Copies of Bound’s new book will be available for purchase.

Known as the “Indiana Jones of the Deep,” Bound has conducted wreck surveys and excavations all over the world in a career that has spanned more than 40 years. Twelve museums around the globe hold permanent displays of artifacts raised by Bound. His work has been the focus of numerous documentaries including a four-part series by the Discovery Channel entitled Lost Ships.

In 2019, Bound stunned the world with his discovery of Admiral von Spee’s flagship, Scharnhorst, which was lost in battle during World War I. That same year, Bound was director of exploration for the first expedition to find Shackleton’s Endurance, which ended in disaster when a remote operated vehicle imploded from pressure, and the principal search vehicle, an autonomous underwater vehicle, disappeared without a trace. In 2022, the search for Shackleton’s lost ship resumed under the auspices of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust with Bound in the same role. On March 5, 2022, the Endurance was found, and as predicted by Bound, it was upright, largely intact, not embedded in the seafloor and in an excellent state of preservation.

This event is the last in the Center for Environment and Society’s winter speaker series, “A Polar Expedition with Washington College,” which spotlights experts who have made recent discoveries in the polar regions. It is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required, as seating is limited. Please visit washcoll.edu/mensun-bound for more information and to register.

This event is co-sponsored by the Rose O’Neill Literary House, the Washington College Department of Anthropology and Archaeology and the Archaeology Club of Washington College with generous support from the Phi Beta Kappa Chapter of Washington College.

Free Screening of Related Special April 5

Before Bound’s visit, the public is invited to Washington College on April 5 for a free showing of The History Channel special, “Endurance: The Hunt for Shackleton’s Ice Ship” at 2:00 p.m. in the Norman James Theatre in William Smith Hall. The show features Boundand chronicles the extraordinary conditions and efforts required of the expedition team to find the Endurance shipwreck. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.