by Cheryl Leschasin
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 26/97) - A crew of seven gathered 50 kilometres north of Taloyoak from May 11 to 17, searching for what everyone involved hoped would be a sunken ship from the doomed Franklin expedition.

"I'm pretty sure we've got a target there," said Pete Jess of Jessco Logistics, Ltd., a supply and logistics service based in Resolute.

Jess, who has worked in the High Arctic for 25 years, said contacts in Taloyoak had reported seeing a large object underwater which could be a sunken ship.

Guide David Jayko of Taloyoak and an assistant guided the crew to the search site.

Though finding something underwater is more than a little difficult, the crew brought sophisticated equipment with them to help search for the wreck.

Using a global positioning system, the crew was able to locate themselves on the ice approximately above where the object was spotted.

The crew then drilled an 20-centimetre hole in the ice, just large enough lower a sonar array into the water. The sonar equipment is capable of scanning a 100-metre circle.

After a scan, the crew would move position and scan again, aiming for some overlap.

Though this trip revealed nothing, Jess and partners Phil Newton of Can Dive and American company Anheuser-Busch plan to look again this fall.

If and when they do find a sunken vessel, Jess is adamant about keeping the important piece of Canadian history intact.

The Franklin expedition consisted of two British ships, the Erebus and Terror, that disappeared in the mid-19th century somewhere in High Arctic on a quest for the Northwest Passage.

It was considered one of the most ambitious voyages of the time.

"Our plan is that we are in constant touch with the heritage centre. I am a strong advocate of touching nothing," said Jess.

However, Jess and co-sponsor Anheuser-Busch are keen to get photographs.

In particular, Anheuser-Busch would like to add photos of a sunken Franklin ship to it's "Wild Arctic" display in two American theme parks. The displays focus entirely on the Canadian Arctic, encompassing both natural and human history.

Jess and Newton found the wreck of another ship in 1983, off the southwest corner of Devon Island. The "Breadalbane," which sank in 1853, was a ship commissioned to find the lost Franklin expedition.

Residents of Taloyoak were glad to have the spotlight turned on their area.

"The reception we got in Taloyoak was absolutely unbelievable," said Jess. In particular, Jess said he wished to thank the Lyall family of Taloyoak and both First Air and Canadian for their contributions to the search.