Mercy Bay is a

Canadian Arctic Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and ...

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. It is a southern arm of

M'Clure Strait The M'Clure Strait (sometimes rendered McClure Strait) is a strait on the edge of the Canadian Northwest Territories. It forms the northwestern end of the Parry Channel which extends east all the way to Baffin Bay and is thus a possible route fo ...

on northeast

Banks Island Banks Island is one of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago. Situated in the Inuvik Region, and part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, of the Northwest Territories, it is separated from Victoria Island to its east by the Prince of ...

. The mouth of

Castel Bay Castel Bay is a Canadian Arctic waterway in the Northwest Territories. It is a southern arm of M'Clure Strait on northeast Banks Island. The mouth of the larger Mercy Bay is less than to the east. These bays are a part of Aulavik National Park. ...

is less than to the west. These bays are a part of Aulavik National Park.

HMS ''Investigator''

In September 1851, Captain

Robert McClure Vice-Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish explorer of Scots descent who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the Northwest Passage by boat and sledge, and was the first to ci ...

's ship, became ice trapped in Mercy Bay during his search for the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

and the lost

Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

Expedition. By 1853, it was finally abandoned in the bay. The crew sledged over ice to Melville Island, where they were rescued. In July 2010,

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government, agency of the Government of Canada whic ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

s looking for HMS ''Investigator'' found it fifteen minutes after they started a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

scan of

, Mercy Bay,

. The archaeology crew had no plans to raise the ship. They did a thorough sonar scan of the area, then sent an ROV (a

remotely operated vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ...

). The Canadian archaeologists found the ship "largely intact", sitting upright in approximately 25 feet of pristine Arctic water. Its masts were missing, probably sheared away by the ice.

References

External links

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Video: Discovery of HMS Investigator
Bays of the Northwest Territories Banks Island {{NorthwestTerritories-geo-stub