Underwater Canada

Sep 24

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First Photos of 1863 Steamer Homer Warren

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada | No Comments

The Canadian steamship Homer Warren has been sitting on the bottom of Lake Ontario for nearly one hundred years. In 2003, shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the wrecked remains using side scan sonar equipment, but it was careful research that led them to the right location. Using newspaper accounts, witness reports and weather data, they pieced together a hypothesis about where the ship came to rest. To confirm the find, Dan Scoville made solo dives to document the wreck with his video camera. Now fifteen years later, Jill Heinerth and Teddy Garlock have brought back the first…

Sep 21

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Les Escoumins – A Vibrant Underwater Garden

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, Underwater Photo and Video, Women Underwater | No Comments

It’s a long journey from Ontario to the little dive shack on Highway 138, just north of the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. Eight hours of roadway are more beautiful with every turn that I make in my trusty Subaru Outback. The multi-lane highway surrenders to winding a coastal road along the St. Lawrence River’s north shore and pauses briefly at a ferry crossing at Baie St. Catherine. The trees are showing a rusty hint of fall as the stiff breeze ushers in a cold, foggy wind. I cross over the bay in building white caps and…

Sep 06

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Carved by Water – A Visit to Bonnechere Cave

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada | No Comments

Canada’s water story includes water that moves underground. Most Canadians will never get a chance to follow me through an underwater cave system, but at Bonnechere Cave in Ontario, you can have a similar experience. During the summer season, the underwater cave is pumped dry so that visitors can explore winding passages up close. In a virtual classroom inside Mother Earth, a tour guide will ensure your safety while teaching you about local folklore, 450 million-year-old fossils, glaciation, geology and the hibernation of bats. A 40-minute tour takes you along a boardwalk through the passages where you can find rare…

Sep 03

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First Dive on the Canadian Schooner Queen of the Lakes

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Rebreather Diving, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, Underwater Photo and Video | No Comments

28-year-old Teddy Garlock has never been shy about reaching out to mentors. As a new scuba diver, at the age of thirteen, he contacted noted shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard. To Garlock, Jim was a local “Cousteau.” Kennard, an electrical engineer by trade, is a shipwreck enthusiast who has found over 200 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, NY Finger Lakes and in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers over the past 35 years. Using side scan sonar and ROVs, Kennard has spent decades on the lake searching for some of the 8000 or more shipwrecks lost in the depths. In…

Aug 22

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Creating an Urban Wilderness

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, We Are Water | No Comments

The wind was blowing strong on Cherry Beach in Toronto’s Portlands, but I was ready to embark on an urban water adventure with my husband, Robert McClellan. We dragged our inflatable kayaks down the sloping beach and launched toward Tommy Thompson Wetland Park. The park is comprised of a 5 km long human-made peninsula that extends into Lake Ontario just east of downtown. The cape, built from construction debris and dredged sediments, offers protection as Toronto’s Outer Harbour. Traditionally the area was used for shipping and industrial activities, but is being transformed into an urban wilderness. At the recent Canadian…

Aug 15

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Playful Sea Lions

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, Women Underwater | No Comments

British Columbia is one of the most remarkable diving destinations in the world. Bountiful marine life and healthy coastal environments lure divers to visit the emerald colored nutrient-rich waters. One of my favorite spots to visit is a small rocky islet 500 m off the southwest end of Hornby Island. It is a playground for Stellar and California sea lions. Between November and April each year, the sea lions gather in this spot to await the annual herring spawn. Around mid to late February, the visibility is obliterated from the spawn, but the sea lions are happy to feed voraciously…

Aug 15

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Diving into Ontario’s Maritime History

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada | No Comments

The St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes offer the opportunity to dive into our maritime past by exploring remarkable shipwrecks. Thousands of wrecks reside in the dark basement of the Great Lakes, and each has its own story. This past weekend I had the chance to dive with old friends near my Mom’s birthplace. Kingston, Ontario always gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling that conjures up memories of family weekends at my grandparent’s home or exploring places like Fort Henry or Amherst Island. My dive buddies Ralph Hoskins and underwater cinematographer Jim Kozmik joined me for some recreational dives….

Jun 25

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Wet Ice

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Arctic, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, We Are Water | No Comments

Dive Nunavut As I try to sleep on a cot in a tent on the sea ice in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut, I am surrounded by water. The water has seeped through the seams of the floor, and even though I am pitched on top of plywood sheets, the water is getting too deep. It is time to find slightly higher ground or a remnant snow drift that has not yet melted. It is the beginning of June, and the rain is pouring down. The closest community is Arctic Bay some 80 km away. Arctic Bay is an amazing, traditional community…

Jun 25

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Canada’s Water Summit

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada, We Are Water | No Comments

I am privileged to be asked to serve as the keynote speaker for Canada’s 9th Annual Water Summit, but the honor is mine. This is an opportunity for me to learn. It is only fitting to begin my journey into Canada’s water resources at Canada’s 9th Annual Water Summit in Vancouver. Hundreds of policymakers, engineers and students gathered to plot the future course of sanitation, supply, and protection. The conference was opened by First Nation’s representations who offered a special prayer in addition to highlighting issues faced by their communities across the country. It is embarrassing to note how compromised the…

Jun 04

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Preparations for the Expedition

By Jill Heinerth | All Posts, Arctic, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Underwater Canada | No Comments

People often ask how long it takes me to prepare for a project. In some ways, I have made a lifetime of preparations for each endeavor that I embark upon. This time I am headed back to the northern reaches of my home country to shoot a story about climate change for a documentary film called “Under Thin Ice.” It will air on the esteemed program “Nature of Things,” in Canada and on media outlets around the world. It is an ambitious project that has been in pre-production for more than two years. This week I am handling the last…

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