Overview
- The expedition embarked from WHOI’s research vessel Atlantis on Thursday, July 2, 2026, and will spend several weeks mapping and filming the two wrecks in situ.
- Teams will deploy the human-occupied vehicle Alvin, remotely operated vehicles and high-definition 5.2K video to capture imagery that Voyis photogrammetry will stitch into manipulable, true-scale 3-D replicas.
- The wrecks sit at very different depths and states of preservation, with Terra Nova at about 170 metres encrusted in marine life and Quest at roughly 390 metres lying on its keel and missing some original fittings.
- The international project is led by RCGS and WHOI with co-chief scientists John Geiger and David Mearns and includes historians and archaeologists aiming to document material links to the Heroic Age without invasive sampling.
- By producing high-resolution digital twins the mission seeks to preserve fragile seafloor heritage, widen public access to the ships’ material evidence, and provide study-grade data for future research and conservation decisions.