| Scientists
Don't Want Arctic Research Vessel Named After Doomed Explorer
CNews
Posted May 26, 2003
 By
JUDY MONCHUK
CALGARY
(CP) - Arctic researchers are quietly lobbying to re-christen
a floating scientific laboratory named after an ill-fated
explorer many view as the epitome of failure in the North.
Canada's
first dedicated research icebreaker, the converted coast guard
ship Sir John Franklin, is to set sail for the Beaufort Sea
in September, arriving in time to be frozen into the ice pack
for the winter.
"To
have the flagship of this research endeavour of Canada's named
after an old English colonial is a little insensitive and
inappropriate (since) the Inuit are contributing considerably
to the research being done," said Robert Williamson,
a senior research associate with the Calgary-based Arctic
Institute of North America.
"It's
like saying we still approve of his attitudes and his way
of dealing with the indigenous people," said Williamson.
Franklin's
ships, on a doomed quest for the Northwest Passage in 1845,
became stuck in the ice and crew members were forced to seek
refuge in the vast, barren, frigid landscape. All perished,
with causes varying from scurvy to botulism.
Like
many British explorers of his era, Franklin felt morally superior
to the aboriginal people who had survived in the rugged North
for thousands of years and did not try to learn from their
experiences, said Williamson.
Some
question whether Franklin, who oversaw the worst disaster
in Arctic history, is the proper inspiration for Canada's
first major Arctic expedition in decades.
"It's
a delicate matter," conceded Louis Fortier, a Laval University
biological oceanographer who is leading the consortium of
15 Canadian universities.
"It
depends on your view of the career and the achievements of
Franklin. For the general public, Franklin is often the epitome,
the symbol of failure in the Arctic, although he was not that
bad."
Williamson,
who has studied the Arctic for 45 years, would prefer an Inuktitut
name to honour the peoples of the North. Among his suggestions
is Sivumut, which means "forward and onward."
Fortier
said he believes the name will be changed, but that's not
in his hands.
"Changing
the name is not a matter of superstition, it's to underscore
that we have an old ship with a new mandate," he said.
For
an entire year, researchers will collect snow and ice as the
seasons change. A five-year project will examine the climate
impacts of the steadily shrinking sea ice cover on the area
and Inuit communities.
Marine
detectives will also try to determine if the Arctic holds
any clues as to the fate of missing cod and study microscopic
viruses in hopes of determining how those have changed over
time.
Scientists
view this mission as a turning point in rebuilding Canada's
role in polar research, a role which has been abdicated to
the Americans and Germans in recent years.
"We
have the longest shore line in the Arctic, but our program
was not proportional to our responsibility in the Arctic,"
said Fortier. "Now it's developing, it's improving and
we see the light at the end of the tunnel."
CNews
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