A team of meteorite enthusiasts, Dave Kenny from Vancouver Island and his colleague Anton Clemens, have successfully recovered meteorite fragments from a recent fireball event in northern Ontario. The discovery took place on Cockburn Island in Lake Huron. The duo, part of the Meteorite Recovery Specialists group, found the fragments on July 11 on the sparsely populated island situated near Manitoulin Island.
After submitting samples to the Meteor Physics Group at Western University in London, Ontario, it was confirmed that the rocks were part of the meteor that disintegrated in the atmosphere on June 19. Dave Kenny, an experienced meteorite hunter who has searched for meteorites worldwide, expressed his excitement at finding these fragments, marking his first meteorite retrieval in Canada.
Accessing the fragments on Cockburn Island was a challenging task due to the island’s private and protected status. Kenny explained that they had to coordinate extensively with the island council and the Nature Conservancy of Canada to determine suitable search areas. The island, reachable only by boat, necessitated a journey from Manitoulin Island, where they camped in Meldrum Bay and then sailed to Cockburn Island with the help of a friend.
During their two and a half days on the island, Kenny and Clemens covered nearly 50 kilometers on foot each day, searching for meteorite pieces. Despite the challenges, they quickly located a significant fragment weighing 57.6 grams shortly after arriving on the island. Over the next days, they discovered more pieces, all found near township roads and public access points.
The larger fragment will undergo extensive study at Western University over the next six months. While not yet officially classified, the rocks are suspected to be chondrites, a common type of meteorite originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This discovery adds to the scientific understanding of meteorites and their origins.