The Titanic lies in 13,000 feet of water on a gently sloping alpine-like countryside overlooking a small canyon below. Its bow faces north and the ship sits upright on the bottom. There is no light at this great depth and little life can be found. It is a quiet and peaceful and fitting place for the remains of this greatest of sea tragedies to rest. May it forever remain that way and may God bless these found souls. Bob Ballard Sept. 9, 1985.

On April 15th, 1912, at 2:20 am, the icy North Atlantic waters closed over the largest man made object at that time.

At the time of Titanic's sinking we did not have the technology to either locate or dive to the wreck. Over the decades, there were numerous theories and plans, all of which either didn't come to fruit or failed miserably. It would not be until 1985 that Bob Ballard would find the lost souls of the RMS Titanic. Despite being a highly trained scientist, when he realized what he had found, it reduced him, and most everyone else aboard, to tears.

Others have explored Titanic since Ballard. Some have sought only to increase their knowledge, others have sought to increase their income. Technology and science has evolved since 1985 and the true researchers who have studied Titanic have brought some new and interesting information to light.

In a way, one could say that Titanic herself is coming to life The iron munching organisms, a kind of bacteria which are dining on Titanic's hull plates are creating whole colonies of what Ballard dubbed rusticles. Long rivulets of this stuff drapes down the sides of the great ship Recently scientists brought back a sample of a rusticle to discover that the bacteria that made up a rusticle actually become a larger organism, complete with circulation of sorts. As the bacteria munch on the iron, the liquid flows down towards the bottom of the rusticle where the iron is used to make more rusticle. The then iron depleted liquid, now heavier than the iron laden liquid, circulates to the top. Primitive, of course, but still a fascinating discovery.

RMS Titanic Inc. salvor in possession of Titanic have removed over 6000 artifacts from the wreck area. They claim they are increasing our knowledge of Titanic and her passengers, but little has really come of it, other than a lot of people paying to see the artifacts. There are many people however, who refuse to go see the artifacts, saying that it is wrong to remove them , that the wreck is a graveyard. And that statement, is very true.

What has received little publicity is the discovery of an area around Titanic which likely contains remains. There are numerous places around the wreck where pairs of shoes dot the ocean floor. RMS Titanic Inc. tried to argue they were not from bodies, but merely the shoes people had put outside their cabin doors for the stewards to polish. IF that were true, and the shoes had been washed overboard, it is nearly impossible for them to have landed so close together, toes pointing outward. But at that time, no one had discovered any remains and everyone assumed that the bodies had long ago disappeared.

Then, on one of RMS Titanic Inc's dives to Titanic, an aerobic (oxygen rich) area was discovered by the wreck and RMS Titanic Inc recovered a soup tureen from it. A fair sized chunk of surrounding soil came up with the tureen. It was only when archeologists began picking through that chunk that they discovered some gold cuff links (a pair) and then some pieces of bone. This was analyzed and determined to be that from lamb, which had been served the last dinner. But, what they didn't want to tell people was that also in that chunk was bits of a very small undershirt. The company then forbid any further recoveries in that area.

Had the public known about this discovery, they likely would have been outraged and support for the company (already foundering) would have dropped. But, it never made the headlines. Clearly though, we need to examine just "how close" we need to get to Titanic to learn about her, her times and the people who sailed on her.

Robert Ballard felt that all that was needed to learn was to use pictures and remotely controlled robots, and indeed, this is how we have learned the most. He also believed that taking the artifacts away from the site was both unethical and changed the whole context of what it meant, sort of like taking only one piece of a jigsaw puzzle and trying to figure out the picture. I tend to agree.

Sometime in the future, we are not sure just when, Titanic will cease to exist as an iron hull, but will be reduced to the rusticles which are consuming her. It seems unlikely however that she will cease to exist in memory. Walter Lord, the first serious Titanic researcher, claimed that Titanic was an unsinkable subject and he does seem to be correct!