The hunt is on for the ship that is 10,000 feet below the sea.
The expedition, known as Endurance22, began searching for the wreck this week after an 11-day voyage aboard a South African icebreaker. The remains of the wooden ship, which sank in 1915 after being crushed in ice, have not been found.
Mensun Bound, the expedition's director of exploration, said in an email that after a few technical problems, the submersibles were functioning well. The images show that the seafloor is flat and contains small rocks.
The expedition, financed at a cost of more than $10 million by an anonymous donor, has about a week left before it must return to Cape Town.
The expedition is looking for more than one of the most celebrated wrecks that remain to be found. The researchers are looking for signs that the sea ice is changing as the world warms because of greenhouse gases.
The scientists have been using two helicopters to ferry them to ice floes, where ice cores are drilled for later analysis.
The attempt to be the first to cross the continent on foot was lost when the team of 27 was transporting Shackleton and his team. The sinking came months after the ship first became trapped in pack ice, but it resulted in one of the greatest tales of survival in the face of great adversity. The entire crew of the small boat that Shackleton led to the island of South Georgia was rescued 800 miles away. He was a hero back in Britain.
The sea's circular current is what causes the thick, years-old ice in the Weddell to be so old. John Shears, the expedition leader, said that the ice on the way to the search site was not bad.
Mr. Bound said that the ice at the search area did not present any obstacles. The open water created by the propeller wash is enough to launch the submersibles. The team was making good progress in the early stages of the search.
When the ship sank, the captain was able to use basic navigation tools to determine its location. The timepiece that he used to use to see the sun was off by 10 minutes. A 7 mile by 14 mile search area was established through analyses of that and other potential errors.
If the remains of the ship are found, the submersibles will take videos and photographs and make laser scans of the wreck, which will be the basis for museum exhibits and educational materials. The site, which is classified as a historic monument, will not be disturbed.
The wreck is expected to be in relatively good shape, unlike other old wooden wrecks in warmer waters that are often eaten by marine organisms.
The masts and rigging were mostly shown in the photographs taken before the sinking. Mr. Bound said it was likely that the hull was mostly intact when the ship sank.
Mr. Shears said that the crew was optimistic that they would find the Endurance.
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