Shouldn't all the Franklin searchers be on the same side?

Turns out that when the privately-founded Arctic Research Foundation, which has been a junior partner to Parks Canada and the Canada Coast Guard in the search for the Franklin ships but tends to be up front when credit is handed out, located HMS Terror last month ... they did not tell their Parks Canada colleagues for a week.

The report by Tom Spears of the Ottawa Citizen last week suggests that the ARF wanted to get its own video and its own PR prepared before bringing in the professionals from Parks Canada. Parks Canada divers were therefore prevented from examining the wreck until shortly before ice brought the diving season to a close.

Someone in the government of Canada needs to take the Franklin searchers firmly in hand and tell them to get their act together.  This nasty beggar-my-neighbour, win-the-media competition among the various parties is clearly bad for science, bad for history, and bad for Canada's reputation for Arctic management.

Some of this backbiting and credit-hogging came out last year.  Looks like it has not gone away.