The NY Times had an editorial today, Search for the Searchers, with this final paragraph:

"The ships will almost certainly be found one day, in part because the technology for underwater exploration has become very sophisticated. But the real difference is this: The ice that has hidden the bones of Franklin's ships and made the Northwest Passage impenetrable for centuries withdraws a little farther each summer. Had Franklin set out to find the Northwest Passage as it exists in 2011, he might well have found it and returned home to live to a ripe old age."

~ Becky in Long Beach