Parks Canada researchers return from expedition off B.C.’s Haida Gwaii

VANCOUVER – Underwater archeologists with Parks Canada have returned from an expedition that took them below the surface in B.C.’s Haida Gwaii region.

The team spent two weeks using a combination of high-tech underwater tools and scuba diving to look for historic artifacts in Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve.

Jonathan Moore, one of the archeologists, says they found remains of structures such as piers and wharves that were once connected to mining villages, fish canneries and other industrial sites.

The researchers were also looking for several sunken ships that were captured by the Haida in the late 1700s and mid-1800s, but they did not find any traces of the vessels.

Moore says the trip has added to the researchers’ knowledge about the historic use of the area and what other cultural artifacts might be waiting to be discovered on the ocean floor.

The Gwaii Haanas conservation area is located on the southern edge of Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, more than 600 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.