A late summer storm swept into Nunavut and brought heavy winds and snow to the region.With all the steamy hot temperatures to the south, watching this will cool us off and remind us of what’s to come in a few months. The wintry blast seems incomprehensible at this time of summer though in a way the cold is a refreshing reminder that the heat won’t last too much longer!
Robert Kautuk, from Igloolik, Nunavut, captured this awesome drone footage of walruses swimming and interacting in the Arctic Ocean! Drones have opened up a whole new world of wildlife viewing in areas that are remote and less accessible for conventional video photography. It would be amazing to see some footage of polar bears on the Hudson Bay ice – pack searching out seal dens. Enjoy this excellent video!
Words cannot do justice to this simply magnificent rainbow shot from Braydon Peterson in Kugluktuk, Nunavut! The image was taken at 1:00 so you can see how the daylight is being stretched here at the start of summer. Enjoy the view!
Incredible full rainbow shot from across the bay in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. Braydon Peterson photo.
Kugluktuk, Nunavut is experiencing ice break – up season. This video footage from Alison Harper submitted to the CBC just a couple of days ago illustrates the magnificence of the spring ice – flow process as the warmer weather ushers the floes out of the Coppermine River in the Nunavut community. The Churchill River broke up recently but this Coppermine ice is much more crystalized and faster flowing than the Churchill. There’s something very soothing and medatative about watching ice flow out as spring sets in.
Nunuvut’s government is staking claim to artifacts from the HMS Erebus – one of two ships from the ill – fated Sir John Franklin expedition of 1845. Nunavut is refusing to issue Parks Canada dive permits unless Parks Canada relinquishes rights to artifacts found and retrieved from the seabed at the wreck sight of the Erebus in the waters of Victoria Strait, just off the coast of King William Island where it was discovered in September 2014. The Erebus is thought to be the ship on which Franklin perished during the ill fated expedition. The other lost ship, HMS Terror has yet to be found.
Parks Canada finally relented to the Nunavut request after realizing their divers could face arrest by the RCMP. Permission from Nunavut’s director of heritage must now be consulted before retrieving any artifacts from the site.
One of the cannons from the HMS Erebu is lifted to the surface during last year’s artifact recovery mission in the Arctic. Thierry Boyer/Parks Canada photo.
In addition to Nunavut, other claimants to the Erebus’ artifacts include the Kitikmeot Inuit, who claim ownership under a land claims treaty, as well as the British, who, since the ships and expedition were of British origin, and based on an agreement drafted in 1997, possess rights to claim any artifacts of “outstanding significance” to their Royal Navy. The agreement between Canada and Britain recognize ownership of the wrecks and their contents by Britain, though it acknowledges Britain will ultimately gift ownership to Canada of everything, except gold, recovered from the wrecks.
Parks Canada diver surveys the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada photo.
“During the permit application process for the spring 2015 ice dive on HMS Erebus, the government of Nunavut included a condition that denied Parks Canada the authorization to recover artifacts from the wreck site,” says a briefing note for Leona Aglukkaq, who was then the environment minister.
The federal cabinet has subsequently declared the HMS Erebus wreck and surrounding waters a national historic site, which took precedence over Nunavut’s permit regulations. However the wreck of the Terror, Franklin’s second lost ship is presumed to be outside the historical site designation therefore creating the same issues and subject to Nunavut’s initial claim of jurisdiction for the HMS Erebus artifacts.
Diver inspects the hull of the HMS Erebus preserved by the Arctic waters. Parks Canada photo.
This summer Parks Canada will return to the Erebus wreck site to document artifacts and then continue nearby areas to the north to search for the elusive HMS Terror as well. Hopefully all the ownership and jurisdiction tug – of – wars will ease enough to allow divers to expedite the process before the artifacts are scattered.
A portion of the Erebus steering wheel found at the site. Parks Canada photo.
A crewman’s boot in good condition was found at the site of the Erebus. Parks Canada photo.
