Additional Parks Canada reports released.
3 October 2025.
Underwater Archaeology Research Bulletins, Nos. 1 & 2. By Charles Dagneau and Jonathan Moore, for Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team.
Continuing what began last October, Parks Canada has today released more of their hitherto private archaeology reports. These two are titled “Research Bulletins,” Numbers 1 & 2. They cover the much quieter seasons of 2017 and 2018, which were significantly hampered by mechanical and ice/weather issues.
The 2018 report features a diagram showing the significant and worrying hull damage to HMS Erebus, which occurred at some point between these two seasons, tearing away a large section of the vanishing upper deck.
Link to Parks Canada’s reports webpage (PDF downloads available):
19 September 2025.
The End of an Era. By Russell Potter.
Russell Potter has written about the end of Parks Canada’s dive seasons for his website Visions of the North.
https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-end-of-era.html
13 September 2025.
Parks Canada’s Jonathan Moore, Manager of the Underwater Archaeology Team, spoke at The Explorers Club’s Global Exploration Summit in Ottawa (held for the first time on Canadian soil, as the club is famously headquartered in New York, a welcome decision in our current political climate). Moore was part of a shipwrecks panel – for Erebus, Terror, Endurance, and Quest – hosted by John Geiger, alongside Mensun Bound and David Mearns.
The ending of Parks Canada’s dive seasons wasn’t announced until 48 hours after this talk, and therefore isn’t addressed during the panel.
Just a minute into Moore’s remarks, an excellent flyover is shown of Parks’ 3D modeling during their lower deck cabin excavations, which I believe hasn’t been shown publicly before. It’s gorgeous viewing, and – as a search through the cabins of lieutenants – is perhaps the high-water mark of the team’s endeavour to bring answers to the loss of the Franklin Expedition.
Moore’s remarks begin 30 minutes into the four hours of footage on Youtube. My thanks to Alison Freebairn for the tip about this talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqI79U8x1do&t=1665s
August 2025.
The Franklin Expedition Relics and Remains Found at Qavdlunaarsiorfik, Adelaide Peninsula, 1923 and 1924. By Janice Cavell.
Janice Cavell has a new article in Mariner’s Mirror, looking into a skull attributed to the Franklin Expedition – dubbed ‘Mr. Adelaide’ – that was found in the 1920s and later lost.
While I can’t comment on Cavell’s arguments, she does write that two leather fragments associated with the skull are now missing from Greenwich’s catalogue. I was able to locate them, as the NMM has them filed under a Burwash tag: items AAA2316 and AAA2317 (neither yet has photography available).
Mariner’s Mirror paywall alert: $50 price-tag to read the PDF.
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