Banks Island lies off British Columbia’s North Coast, near Haida Gwaii, where the water is cold and the seabed is rocky. Commercial divers work this coast for seafood, and giant red sea cucumbers are one of the species they harvest. In October 2016, diver Sean Smyrichinsky was separated from his boat during an expedition, and on the seabed he spotted a large, unusual object. In an early November 2016 interview with CBC Radio’s Daybreak North, Sean Smyrichinsky described his discovery. The news about it quickly spread all over Canada and abroad. The shape was clearly man-made but had no clear function. Smyrichinsky mentioned his discovery to other fishermen, and one of them linked the object to an American bomber that had crashed in the area many years earlier. What began as a diver’s discovery became an investigation by the RCMP and the Royal Canadian Navy. This investigation answered one question, but kept the other open.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
