In 1845, two ships departed England in search of unexplored areas within the Canadian Arctic, hoping to uncover secrets that lay in magnetic data to help aid exploration. Lead by Captain Sir John Franklin, the crew of 129 sailed into the freezing lands of what is now Nunavut, Canada, and into the Victoria Strait. This would be the last time Franklin, and all of his men, were ever seen again.
As a grim reminder of the fateful expedition, the remains of desperate sailors have been discovered across King William Island, many of which had samples taken for analysis. Now, DNA testing has identified and reconstructed an officer who met his demise on the expedition, marking the first person from the crew to ever have been confirmed through DNA analysis. The results, produced by the University of Waterloo, were published in the journal Polar Record.
His ship vanished in the Arctic 176 years ago. DNA has offered a clue
6 May, 2021 05:00 AM
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A facial reconstruction of what John Gregory, a sailor on the H.M.S. Erebus, might have looked like, based on DNA collected from a living descendant. Photo / Diana Trepkov/ University of Waterloo
A facial reconstruction of what John Gregory, a sailor on the H.M.S. Erebus, might have looked like, based on DNA collected from a living descendant. Photo / Diana Trepkov/ University of Waterloo
New York Times
By: Bryan Pietsch
For the first time, researchers have identified the remains of a sailor from the doomed 1845 Franklin expedition of the fabled Northwest Passage.
His Ship Vanished in the Arctic 176 Years Ago. DNA Has Offered a Clue.
For the first time, researchers have identified the remains of a sailor from the doomed 1845 Franklin expedition of the fabled Northwest Passage.
A facial reconstruction of what John Gregory, a sailor on the H.M.S. Erebus, might have looked like, based on DNA collected from a living descendant.Credit.Diana Trepkov/ University of Waterloo
May 5, 2021Updated 2:10 p.m. ET
On July 9, 1845, two months after departing from Greenhithe, England, Warrant Officer John Gregory wrote a letter to his wife from Greenland in which he described seeing whales and icebergs for the first time.
In this July 21, 2017 file photo, researchers look out from the Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica as the sun sets over sea ice in the Victoria Strait along the Northwest Passage in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago. (David Goldman/AP Photo)
The number of ships entering Canada’s Northwest Passage, and the distances sailed, are all increasing, says a new report from the Arctic Council.
The report, “Arctic Shipping Status Report – Shipping in the Northwest Passage,” was done by the Arctic Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working group using data from its Arctic Ship Traffic Data Base.
A six-year period was looked at from 2013-2019.
Warming oceans have forced tens of thousands of marine species to abandon their tropical homes along the equator and relocate to cooler waters, a new study reveals.
Researchers, led by the University of Auckland, found a mass exodus of nearly 50,000 species including fish, mollusks, birds and corals that have moved poleward since 1955.
In other words, scientists say, species that can move are moving to escape warming surface temperatures that currently average 68F (20C).
The findings show that rising temperatures are making tropical regions unbearable for native species, but these creatures are relocating to subtropical waters that are also warming.
Warming oceans have forced tens of thousands of marine species to abandon their tropical homes along the equator and relocate to cooler waters, a new study reveals