A swim against tides to find Franklin's lost ships

Canadian researchers begin their efforts to find the remains of Sir John Franklin's catastrophic 1845 expedition, in a project that combines the historical romanticism associated with past explorers and the emerging importance of 21st-century polar science. Yet the project is happening only as a result of the persistence of the researchers involved. They were initially turned down for funding and say they had to stitch together a patchwork of initiatives to sustain their project. "The principal investigators incorporated this project into their personal research programs," said Professor Bruno Tremblay of McGill's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. "It's being done a bit as a spinoff from our research funding." Prof. Tremblay said he cobbled together $150,000, with a combination of federal, provincial and university monies. Another $150,000 came from a Swiss pharmaceutical tycoon with a personal interest in sea sciences.