Journal article
Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition
Polar record, v 60(5), e5
01 Jan 2024
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.
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Details
- Title
- Collaring nature: The use of foxes to find and rescue the members of the lost Franklin expedition
- Creators
- Robert M. Peck - Drexel University, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Polar record, v 60(5), e5
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Number of pages
- 10
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001145208500001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85183646340
- Other Identifier
- 991021861188604721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences