Exploration 2022

HMS Erebus

April

In 2022, underwater archaeologists from Parks Canada and Inuit Guardians from the Nattilik Heritage Society returned to the wreck of HMS Erebus for the first time in more than two years. Members of Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team and Inuit Guardians established an ice camp above the wreck on April 23 and remained on site until May 2. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) made six dives beneath the ice to document the site with video and sonar imagery, revealing that the site had undergone little change since last visited in 2019. Inuit Guardians supported archaeological activities and played a key role in transport, camp set-up, and wildlife monitoring.

August and September

Underwater archaeologists travelled to Erebus again, this time in August and September aboard the Parks Canada Research Vessel David Thompson to conduct in-person dives. The RV David Thompson departed Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven), Nunavut, on August 30 with the diving and excavation support barge Qiniqtiryuaq in tow and arrived at the site of Erebus the following day.

Over the course of 11 days the team completed 57 dives, excavating portions of what are believed to be the Captain’s Steward’s pantry and the cabins of the Second and Third Lieutenants. Hundreds of artifacts were carefully recovered, including an elaborately decorated leather book cover or portfolio from the Captain’s Steward’s pantry, and a pair of epaulettes and a pistol in a wooden case from the Second Lieutenant’s cabin. A fossil discovered in the Third Lieutenant’s cabin may represent a natural history specimen collected during the 1845 expedition. These artifacts are undergoing further study and conservation treatment in Ottawa.