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ABOARD THE JEAN CHARCOT - We saw our first pictures of the Titanic wreckage in 3-D, high-def early this morning. I expected euphoria, maybe cheering, in the command room of the Jean Charcot, the research vessel that's documenting the Titanic debris before it disintegrates. Instead, there was an intense silence.
About 11 scientists and archeologists crowded around the special monitors. Everyone was wearing a pair of three-dimension glasses to take in the stunning visuals. The cameras, mounted to a Remotely Operated Vehicle, also called an ROV, sent back pictures live as it traveled along the starboard side of the submerged vessel.
Photo by Kerry Sanders
At times the port holes reflected back light. There’s still glass in some of those windows two miles down. As the cameras climbed up along the ship's side, it floated over the deck near the bow, and you could see anchor chains in place as if the ship had been at sea just days ago. The Titanic sank April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
Along the railings there are lines of what looks like un-formed iron. Those are the trails excreted by the naturally occurring microbes that are slowly digesting the steel of this once proud ship.
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Shooting Titanic in 3-D was Billy Lange’s idea. He’s from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Lange was the first to spot the wreckage 25 years ago. This morning he sat front and center, exhausted by delays, but driven by the giddy energy of doing something no one has ever attempted before.
Photo by Kerry Sanders
The only disappointment here is mother nature. Hurricane Danielle will force the expedition to head for cover early Sunday morning. The ROV will be pulled from the waters tonight, and then the captain will point North West for St. John’s Newfoundland.
It’s only a delay. The RMS Titanic, Inc assembled team will return once the weather passes. They’re just bummed to have finally made it here and have to delay their goal. One of the things they hope to do is document upwards of 40 percent of the debris field which has never been photographed or mapped before.
Photo by Kerry Sanders
You can follow the team's updates on facebook.com/rmstitanicinc.
Related links from Kerry Sanders:
-First new images of titanic debris field emerge
-Kerry Sanders Q&A on the expedition
Leave a Comment:
amazing...
I'm surprised James Cameron didn't have anything to do with this, since he's done a couple of expeditions to the Titanic with scientists, especially with the 3D and everything.
The Titanic's legacy will be that passenger ships were made to be much safer after 1912. I had hoped to add the Titanic was also the last ship to sink because of an iceberg collision, but passenger ships have sunk in 1955 and 2007 from iceberg collisions, possibly more.
So how come they haven't sent any mini-ROV into the ship? Need to see the inside too. And I hope they digitally clean it up and produce a worthwhile IMAX 3D.
I'm just wondering when it will become a ride at Disneyland?
Why is it they always show the bow section or the captains quarters, carve that baby open before it rotts and get some real footage from the inside, or better yet build and 2 mile long scafold and start bringing that baby up in sections, who knows maybe they can save some of the items that are still inside for all of us to pay to look at.
dan-410533 lol ya that sounds like a great idea, bring it to Disneyland so we can take family photos standing at the bow railing like in the movie.