Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, the Endurance, which he had to abandon in 1915 on his ill-fated Antarctic expedition, is probably still in very good condition on the ocean floor.

This is one conclusion from research that studied how sunken wood degrades in southern polar waters.

Experiments that submerged planks for over a year found they returned to the surface in near-pristine condition.

Scientists point to the absence in the region of wood-boring "ship worms"....