Meteorites resulting from a significant fireball that garnered widespread attention in the skies of northern Ontario last month have been found on an island in Lake Huron. Dave Kenny, a resident of Vancouver Island, and his colleague Anton Clemens, members of the volunteer group Meteorite Recovery Specialists, located several meteor fragments on Cockburn Island on July 11. This island, situated off the western edge of Manitoulin Island in the North Channel of Lake Huron, is sparsely populated.
The discovered samples were sent to the Meteor Physics Group at Western University in London, Ontario, and were confirmed to be from June 19 when a meteor, weighing hundreds of kilograms, disintegrated in the atmosphere and descended to Earth shortly after 8 p.m. Kenny, who has a history of hunting for meteorites worldwide, including in the U.S., Chile, and Morocco, found this discovery particularly special as it marked his first meteorite retrieval on Canadian soil.
Locating the meteorite pieces presented challenges due to the island’s private and protected lands. Kenny mentioned that they had to coordinate extensively with Cockburn Island council and the Nature Conservancy of Canada to identify permissible search areas. Accessing the island was also difficult as it is reachable only by boat. Kenny elaborated on their journey, stating that they traveled to the western part of Manitoulin, camped at 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 spent long hours searching, covering nearly 50 kilometers on foot each day. Despite the rigorous search, they found their most substantial fragment, weighing 57.6 grams, just two hours after docking on the island. They later found another broken stone a few kilometers away. Kenny expressed relief that the stones were discovered near public access areas, preventing damage by ATV tracks.
The larger meteorite piece sent for further study at Western University is suspected to be a chondrite, a common type of meteorite originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Kenny mentioned that the rocks will undergo a six-month study period to determine their classification officially.
