Diver explorers and Parks Canada researchers have recently uncovered a slew of "fascinating artifacts" among the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror shipwrecks of the famed Franklin Expedition led by its namesake and captain, Sir John Franklin,
According to Parks Canada's official news release, momentous finds during the dive include coins, pistol, a fishing rod with a brass reel, and even an entirely intact thermometer.
One of Park Canada's underwater archaeologist named Marc-André Bernier in the process of excavating a seamen's chest within HMS Erebus' crew living quarters last Sept. 14, 2023.
Found After the Franklin Expedition Disaster 200 Years Ago
In 1845, Captain Franklin had set sail from England in an endeavor to chart a passage around the topside of North America.
However, three years after the start of the expedition, the two ships and all of the 129 men aboard them were utterly lost and claimed by Canada's frigid waters.
Since then, this mission has been dubbed the Franklin Expedition and is believed to be the single worst catastrophe in the history of British polar exploration, as per London's Royal Museums Greenwich.
Almost 200 years after the ships and their men first met their demise, a team of underwater archaeologists has discovered a new set of objects throughout 68 collective dives conducted in 12 days last September.
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Parks Canada's Exploration Efforts Alongside the Inuit Heritage Trust
Parks Canada said in the release that the goal was to investigate and document the wreckage of HMS Erebus. Its team of diver-researchers succeeded in such after coming into contact with the living quarters of the ship where they found "numerous artifacts including pistols, military items, footwear, medicinal bottles, and coins."
Additionally, an area believed to have been Captain Franklin's pantry was discovered, and within it, the divers discovered a sealed medicine bottle, storage jars, and a leather shoe.
In another room, an officer's cabin, the archaeologists discovered "items related to navigation, science, and leisure." This includes the wholly intact thermometer and the fishing rod.
Parks Canada has also released a short two-and-a-half-minute video that covered the details of the diving mission and the post-exploratory examination that its team conducted on the discovered artifacts in the institution's Ottawa facility.
According to the video, this dive has been the result of Parks Canada's several-year-long collaboration with the Nattilik Heritage Society and Inuit Heritage Trust.
After undergoing conservation treatment, the artifacts will thus be displayed at Nattilik Heritage Centre in Gjoa Haven, an Inuit Hamlet within the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
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