As part of an effort to unlock the secrets of Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Erebus, and to learn more about the fate of the Franklin expedition, Parks Canada and Royal Canadian Navy divers will join together for Operation NUNALIVUT and conduct approximately 11 days of intense ice diving and underwater archaeology in April.
The announcement was made at an event held at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto to celebrate last summer’s discovery of HMS Erebus, one of two ill-fated Franklin Expedition ships lost in 1846.
A team of Royal Canadian Navy ice divers and Parks Canada underwater archeologists will undertake continuous daily dives beneath the Arctic ice to HMS Erebus.
Key archaeological objectives include thorough and precise investigation of HMS Erebus to more fully determine its state of preservation as well as continued photo and video documentation.
Operation NUNALIVUT is a sovereignty operation conducted annually since 2007 in Canada’s North. It provides an opportunity for the Canadian Armed Forces to assert Canada’s sovereignty over its northernmost regions, demonstrate the ability to operate in the harsh environment in remote areas of the High Arctic, and enhance its capability to respond to any situation in Canada’s North.
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Image: Parks Canada