The personal tragedy of one of Canada's most successful recording artists has resulted in the Ontario Provincial Police being given a Side Scan Sonar System and an Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV). Two-time Juno award winner Loreena McKennitt donated the equipment to the police force's Underwater Search and Recovery Unit in memory of three friends, including her fiancé, who died last year in a Georgian Bay boating accident.
Richard and Ronald Rees and Gregory Cook were kayaking on Georgian Bay last summer. All three were experienced boaters and when they did not return, police and volunteers began looking for them. A large hunt, including an extensive underwater search recovered their boats and later a body. It is believed the men were lost due to freak bad weather conditions.
After learning of the accident Ms. McKennitt drove to the Bruce Peninsula where the search was being conducted. "There was nothing I could do. I kept watching the divers go in and out of the water looking (for the bodies). After 3 days of difficult diving, they still had found nothing," she told Diver Magazine.
" I think it was at that point that I asked the police what they needed to make the search process more successful and possibly save other families the 
anguish ... They told me a side scan sonar unit could make a difference," she continued. "When tragedies occur, and particularly preventable ones, one is left with little beyond the hope that one can assist in changing things for the better in some way."
Ms, McKennitt went out and purchased the one piece of equipment the OPP recovery unit has wanted but hasn't had the funds to acquire. The Sea Scan that she donated to the Force is a high resolution side scan sonar system designed to locate large and small objects underwater in zero visibility.
Just after the Diver Magazine print deadline, Loreena McKennitt was preparing to present the Ontario Provincial Police with a Shark Marine multipurpose underwater remote operate vehicle (ROV).
"This ROV will be the perfect partner for the Side Scan sonar that the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit received last year," said Sergeant Wayne MacPherson, the OPP dive coordinator. "In some instances, it is too dangerous for a diver to enter the water. That's when the Sea Scan sonar is utilized to locate a target. We will now have the ability to send in the ROV to make the recovery."
Ms. McKennitt has done more than simply donate equipment to the police. She and relatives of the lost boaters have created the Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search and Safety. In support of that Memorial Fund she embarked on a two week national press campaign in May to highlight the need for water safety
As well, the proceeds from her first live recording Live in Paris and Toronto will be donated to the Memorial Fund. The double CD set is not presently available in stores but can be purchased exclusively by mail order from Ms. McKennitt's record company at 800-361-7959 or on the web at www.quinlanroad.com.
Duly Noted
· For the past three years, Around the Lakes has written about Mystery Ship X, an almost fully in tact 19th century schooner that sits bolt upright on the bottom of Lake Erie. Ship X, the subject of two research submarine expeditions, is considered one of the world's best preserved freshwater wrecks. Many of the articles in Diver Magazine have revolved around the research that has gone into trying to identify the ship. Apparently that work has now ended with the announcement that a team of wreck historians including Toronto's Art Amos has tentatively identified the ship as the St. James. In a recent article in the Hamilton Spectator the St. James was described as a schooner that sank in October 1870 while carrying 14,000 bushels of wheat from Toledo, Ohio to Oswego, New York. The St. James went down in Canadian waters 11 km south of Long Point, Ontario.
· Speaking of Ontario newspaper stories, the Prescott Journal reported earlier this summer that close to 2,000 people lined the North shore of the St. Lawrence River to watch the sinking of a wooden sailboat. The scuttling took just six minutes and according to the Journal, the St. Lawrence River's first artificial reef is in 40 feet of water within easy reach of shore. The sailboat wreck is attracting interest from novice divers in Upper New York State, Western Quebec and the Ottawa Valley.
· Toronto based Firefly Books has released its list of new titles for Fall 1999. One of the new books will be of interest to divers. The Encyclopedia of Sharks by Steve and Jane Parker will be coming to a bookstore near you this October. According to Firefly, this 192 page book has been written in part to dispel the myths and legends surrounding the misunderstood shark. The encyclopedia includes information about shark anatomy and physiology, reproduction, courtship and mating, migration routes and shark conservation efforts. Jane and Steve Parker are zoologists by training and live and work in England.
· Maybe the summer Blood 'N' Bubble thriller Lake Placid will spur someone on to write an encyclopedia of over-grown alligators and crocodiles. If a book does happen, it will be thanks to former Toronto resident Pauline Heaton. The moody underwater videography that plays a pivotal point in Lake Placid's plot line were handled by Heaton and her team. This is not the first Blockbuster that she has worked on ... she is still receiving kudos for the underwater scenes in Robin Williams' fantasty film Jumanji.
· Around the Lakes received an e-mail from Robert Wood with regards to a small news item that appeared in this column. The story made reference to a "Multi-Lingual Scuba Dictionary" that is now available on-line. Mr. Wood wrote to say that he is the original author of the document and the website cited by this column had actually gotten much of their information (with permission) from him. Readers can check out the original document with its Canadian content intact at his website located at:
www.magma.ca/~f.