Franklin expedition: Will we ever know what happened?

BBC ^ | September 8, 2011 | Kate Dailey

[decimon]

Polar apposites ping.

Another search, another bupkis.

[Jonty30]

My mom told me that the local Inuit wanted to help, but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.

[HereInTheHeartland]

” Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.”

I'll bet no survivors were found.

[Krankor]

I’ve read they were blocked in by the ice, so they set up a base with their seven years worth of provisions. They apparently came in contact with some indigenous creatures- perhaps polar bears- and the resultant offspring are what we now call “Yeti” or “Bigfoot”

[decimon]

” Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.”

I'll bet no survivors were found.

No current survivors, at any rate.

[decimon]

My mom told me that the local Inuit wanted to help, but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.

Maybe from the lead. Could be.

[Noumenon]

For a brilliant piece of writing on the subject, highly recommend Dan Simmons' The Terror

One of his best, IMHO

[BuckeyeTexan]

Dan Simmons wrote a great historical fiction on the Franklin Expedition called “The Terror.” It was an excellent read.

[Calvin Locke]

...but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.

From the lead poisoning? (Tin cans of food were soldered/sealed with lead) Perhaps that grain mold related to LSD?

I saw one documentary on a visit to one known site from one of the attempts to find a Northwest Passage. Each succeeding expedition ran into ice earlier than the previous one.

Any way, they were shocked to find that the first of two corpses they were allowed to disinter for autopsy had already been autopsied - apparently by the ship's doctor. Things just didn't look right on the x-ray, the organs having been dumped randomly back into the body.

[dog breath]

Provisioning in the old days was much more of a problem then it is now. Spoilage of the food and deficiency of various nutrients was pretty common. People often had no concept of where and how to find additional food in an environment alien to them, even if it was there in front of them.

[kalee]

placemarker

[roamer_1]

People often had no concept of where and how to find additional food in an environment alien to them, even if it was there in front of them.

That is even more the case today - Most folks couldn't survive in their current environment - the one they are familiar with - without a grocery store...

[Aqua225]

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

[Zauber]

After reading this book I went on a Dan Simmons tear for a couple of months. Good times. I just picked up “Black Hills” at the library today.

[sinanju]

The wrecks are out there, make no mistake.

HMS Breadalbane was discovered in ‘81 and HMS Investigator just last year. The Arctic waters preserve wooden ships amazingly well (no shipworms that far north).

[libbylu]

I saw a documentary about this. The waters froze them in for a couple of years, and the canned food was a new thing and contained lead I think it was that made them sick.

[Dryman]

Maybe they found proof for the Ancient Aliens and were not supposed to be found.

Yet.

[Liberty Valance]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYKmZNcZxs
James Taylor - Frozen Man

[calex59]

Just a guess mind you, but their ships got caught in the ice and were eventually crushed. The men probably were not as well equipped for the cold as they thought and their reported irrational behavior(Eskimos supposedly reported this)was a result of extreme cold causing them to die from foolish acts.