Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition
Abstract The mysterious disappearance of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror while searching for the Northwest Passage under the leadership of Sir John Franklin in the 1840s led to more than thirty different expeditions seeking to find the lost ships and their 129-man crews. It also fostered the first and onl...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2024
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000360 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000360 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247423000360 2024-03-03T08:41:37+00:00 Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition Peck, Robert M. 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000360 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000360 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Polar Record volume 60 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2024 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000360 2024-02-08T08:43:46Z Abstract The mysterious disappearance of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror while searching for the Northwest Passage under the leadership of Sir John Franklin in the 1840s led to more than thirty different expeditions seeking to find the lost ships and their 129-man crews. It also fostered the first and only use of wild animals as a means of communication in such a rescue operation. Since covering the vast search areas was challenging, if not impossible during sub-freezing winter conditions, some of the would-be rescuers turned to Arctic foxes as couriers of information that they hoped might direct the lost explorers to safety. Based on excerpts from the participants’ diaries and published reports from the period, and on the physical evidence that survives, this paper describes the role Arctic foxes were asked to play in one of the greatest (unsuccessful) rescue efforts ever undertaken in the Far North. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Northwest passage Polar Record Cambridge University Press Arctic Northwest Passage Polar Record 60 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Peck, Robert M. Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
Abstract The mysterious disappearance of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror while searching for the Northwest Passage under the leadership of Sir John Franklin in the 1840s led to more than thirty different expeditions seeking to find the lost ships and their 129-man crews. It also fostered the first and only use of wild animals as a means of communication in such a rescue operation. Since covering the vast search areas was challenging, if not impossible during sub-freezing winter conditions, some of the would-be rescuers turned to Arctic foxes as couriers of information that they hoped might direct the lost explorers to safety. Based on excerpts from the participants’ diaries and published reports from the period, and on the physical evidence that survives, this paper describes the role Arctic foxes were asked to play in one of the greatest (unsuccessful) rescue efforts ever undertaken in the Far North. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peck, Robert M. |
author_facet |
Peck, Robert M. |
author_sort |
Peck, Robert M. |
title |
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
title_short |
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
title_full |
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
title_fullStr |
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
title_full_unstemmed |
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition |
title_sort |
collaring nature: the use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost franklin expedition |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000360 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000360 |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Passage |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Passage |
genre |
Arctic Northwest passage Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Arctic Northwest passage Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 60 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000360 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
60 |
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1792497290049486848 |