Terror Bay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Terror Bay |
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 Terror Bay
Location in Nunavut
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| Location | King William Island |
| Coordinates | 68°52′N 98°57′W / 68.867°N 98.950°W |
| Native name | ᐊᒥᑦᕈᖅ, Amitruq Error {{native name checker}}: list markup expected for multiple names (help) |
| Ocean/sea sources | Arctic Ocean |
| Basin countries | Canada |
Terror Bay (also known as Inuktitut: ᐊᒥᑦᕈᖅ or Amitruq) is a bay in the Arctic region of Canada. It is located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. You can find it on the southwest side of King William Island. The bay opens up into Queen Maud Gulf.
Exploring Terror Bay
Terror Bay is a part of the vast Arctic Ocean. Its entrance is marked by two groups of islands. Fitzjames Island is on the west side. The Irving Islands are on the east side.
A Bay Named After Lost Ships
Terror Bay is famous because of a lost expedition. This was Franklin's lost expedition, which explored the Arctic between 1845 and 1848. The bay was named to honor the two ships from this journey. These ships were HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.
The expedition aimed to find the Northwest Passage. This was a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic. The ships entered Baffin Bay in 1845. Sadly, they were abandoned sometime in 1848. The exact fate of the crew remained a mystery for many years. The Geographical Names Board of Canada officially named Terror Bay in 1910.
Finding the Lost Ships of Franklin's Expedition
For over 160 years, no one knew exactly where the ships had sunk. However, the Inuit people had stories passed down through generations. These stories gave important clues about what happened to the ships.
In 2016, something amazing happened. Researchers from the Arctic Research Foundation found the wreck of HMS Terror. They found it right here in Terror Bay! Their ship, the Martin Bergmann, was used for the search.
An Inuk crew member named Sammy Kogvik helped them. He was from Gjoa Haven. Sammy remembered seeing a mast sticking out of the ice in Terror Bay. This was during a hunting trip he took in 2010. His tip led the researchers directly to the lost ship. The wreck of HMS Erebus had been found two years earlier, in 2014. These discoveries helped solve a long-standing mystery of Arctic exploration.
