Beechey Island - Franklin Expedition and a Polar Bear

August 14, 2025

Beechey Island became famous as the burial site for the early deaths of 3 members of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition to discover a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. In 1845 to 1846 the expedition wintered on Beechey Island when their ships were stopped by the ice. The graves and hundreds of tin cans were discovered 5 years later by people in search of the lost expedition. Some people believe they may have perished from lead poisoning when the lead from the tin cans spread into the preserved meat. A fourth grave joined the trio when one of the searchers died of scurvy, caused by the lack of Vitamin C in the diet.

It was a beautiful day when our ship arrived at Beechey Island.

The ship anchored.

We did a wet landing in the zodiacs not far from the graves.

Our photography group was the first to arrive so we reached the graves before they became crowded. The grave markers are replicas of the originals which are at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center.

John Torrington was the first of the crew to die on New Years Day. He was only 20 years old.

John Hartnell died a few days later.

William Braine joined them a few months later in April.

The final grave was that of Thomas Morgan, who was part of the team searching for answers to what happened to John Franklin and his crew.

A short zodiac ride took us to the memorials on Beechey Island, also dedicated to the Franklin expedition and those who searched for them.

Just a few remnants of the Northumberland House remain. The men searching for John Franklin built the house from the remains of a wrecked whaler in the hopes that if the members of the expedition survived and returned to the island they would have shelter. The metal circles in front are old barrel hoops left behind by the would-be rescuers.

The memorial in the front is a cross out of the discarded tin cans like those left behind by the Franklin Expedition.

The Franklin Cenotaph was dedicated to those brave men who gave their lives searching for the Franklin Expedition. The larger plaque in front it dedicated to Joseph-René Bellot who sailed to the Arctic to resupply the Belcher expedition during their church. He was walking across the ice to carry messages when the ice opened up beneath him.

John Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin commissioned the plaque in front of the cenotaph in memory of her husband and his fellow explorers.

The highlight of the trip came as we left the island, however. A polar bear was spotted sleeping in the snow. Although it was still far away, it was closer than yesterday's bear.

It was also a curious young male. When he awoke and spotted the ship, he decided to take a closer look.

As he began to make his way down, we could see the trail he had made when he climbed up to his resting place.

As he climbed down, when he came to particularly steep spots he scooted down backwards, clutching the ice with his strong claws.

He eventually made it off the snowy slope and headed down to the water.

He even started to swim out towards us. Although he eventually changed his mind and swam the other way.