Question: Who found the remains of the Titanic?
Answer: Robert Ballard


The 'Titanic' Discovery: A Brief History - TIME
The Titanic Discovery
Send to Kindle
Ralph White / CORBIS
On Sept. 1, 1985, underwater explorer Robert Ballard located the world's most famous shipwreck. The Titanic lay largely intact at a depth of 12,000 ft. off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland
Follow @TIME
Almost 25 years to the day after the R.M.S. Titanic was discovered two and a half miles below the surface of the Atlantic, an expedition to the ocean floor has transmitted brand new images of history's most famous shipwreck. Legendary before it was found, the Titanic became even more so after the world caught its first glance of the ghostly ship, which met its end in April 1912. After years of speculation and educated guesses that had turned up nothing but empty ocean, researchers located the deteriorating bow and debris field on Sept. 1, 1985.
Explorer Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and former Navy captain, had long wanted to find the wreck, first attempting the feat in 1977 to no avail. But it wasn't until 1985 that he would find a way to finance his research. Ballard approached the U.S. Navy for funding, which he secured on the condition of locating two sunken Navy submarines  the U.S.S. Thresher and U.S.S. Scorpion, both Cold Warera nuclear submarines  lost some years before. He was required to first find the submarines on the seafloor and photograph them (a secret mission that Ballard didn't reveal until 2008) before using the underwater robots to search for the Titanic. In the early hours of Sept. 1, Ballard, in conjunction with a French expedition, tracked a debris trail to the wreckage. Video and photographs were taken and later broadcast to the world.
(Read an interview with two Titanic wreck divers.)
A year after the remains of the Titanic were discovered, more oceanographers went to explore the sections of bow and stern and the extensive debris field that lay between the two. In 1993, the company RMS Titanic Inc. (formed by Premier Exhibitions, which designs museum exhibitions and maintains artifacts) was named salvor-in-possession of the wreck, gaining the rights to collect found artifacts and launch expeditions to the ship. They did so seven times between 1986 and 2004, collecting over 5,500 artifacts ranging from china dishes to leather trunks filled with preserved bank notes. A section of the debris field even became known as "hell's kitchen" for the overwhelming amount of cooking utensils found there. Through photographs taken on subsequent trips, the company was able to reconstruct images of the grand staircase, later made famous (as were all things Titanic) by James Cameron's blockbuster film.
The largest discovery was that of a 17-ton section of the hull. An attempt to raise it in 1996 failed when the hull was accidentally dropped back onto the muddy bottom. Two years later, the section was successfully taken to the surface and is now part of traveling exhibits across the country. The piece was temporarily displayed alongside a 16-ft. frozen aluminum block meant to represent an iceberg. Although observers couldn't touch the rusted metal, they were encouraged to hold onto the ice until they could no longer stand it, though "the people in the water that night didn't have that choice," John Zaller of Premier Exhibitions told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Many argue that collecting items from the wreckage violates a sacred resting ground and that all the disturbances are causing the ship to deteriorate faster than it would if left alone. Others blame the multimillion-dollar expeditions  with their robots that land on deck and probe into small spaces  for causing regular and unnecessary damage. But those same expeditions have dispelled some of the myths surrounding what actually happened that night almost 100 years ago. Scientists recently discovered that the compartments were flooded due to several punctures (each less than a foot tall) in the hull, not one long gash as was originally believed. Regardless, time is running out for researchers, some of whom claim the wreck will not exist 50 years from now. As such, the new photographs come courtesy of a new group that is attempting to "virtually raise" the wreck in order to build a 3-D image before the ship disintegrates entirely. Ironically, the act of discovering the Titanic may be the thing that results in its final destruction.

The Grave of the Titanic
The Grave of the Titanic
The story of the Titanic and the iceberg has grown into a legend of the sea. It took her discovery in 1985 to begin to find the truth behind the myth. One of the things that makes the Titanic so fascinating is that she represented the best of technology when she set sail on her ill-fated voyage in 1912, and it took the best of technology in the form of sonar, satellite tracking, and deep-dive technology to locate her grave 73 years later. In the early 1900's, waterborne transportation was the norm; today, satellites are taken for granted by our society.  But we tend to forget the immense effort that these two technologies require to operate to their maximum potential. Until recently, the technology did not exist to locate, photograph, and explore this ship that rested two and a half miles down on the ocean floor.
On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. At that time, she was the largest and most luxurious ship ever built. At 11:40 PM on April 14, 1912, she struck an iceberg about 400 miles off Newfoundland, Canada. Although her crew had been warned about icebergs several times that evening by other ships navigating through that region, she was traveling at near top speed of about 20.5 knots when one grazed her side.
Less than three hours later, the Titanic plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking more than 1500 people with her. Only a fraction of her passengers were saved. The world was stunned to learn of the fate of the unsinkable Titanic. It carried some of the richest, most powerful industrialists of her day. Together, their personal fortunes were worth $600 million in 1912! In addition to wealthy and the middle class passengers, she carried poor emigrants from Europe and the Middle East seeking economic and social freedom in the New World.
The remains of the Titanic were found in 1985 by Dr. Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and marine biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When he located the Titanic, he saw that, as some survivors reported, the ship had broken apart. He believed the weight of the water-filled bow raised the stern out of the water and snapped the ship in two just before it sank. Debris falling out of the ship was strewn over a 1/2 mile across the sea floor. The bow and the stern were found nearly 2000ft. apart.
Keeping her location a secret, Bob Ballard used GPS to find theTitanic again when he returned the next year. He hoped to prevent treasure seekers from finding her and plundering the ship for booty such as coffee cups inscribed with RMS Titanic. On this second expedition, he visited the ship several times by submarine. On his last descent, he left a plaque honoring the 1500 victims and asking that subsequent explorers leave their grave undisturbed.
Find the Titanic again!
1. Eventually Bob Ballard released the coordinates of the Titanic's location.  He recorded her coordinates as, stern section sits on ocean floor at 41o43'35" N, 49o56'54" W,  boilers at 41o43'32" N, 49o56'49" W,  bow at 41o43'57" N, 49o56'49" W.  Find these coordinates and trace the outline of the sunken pieces of the Titanic on a chart of the North Atlantic.
2. How far is it from its plotted course? At the time of the accident, the ship was reported to be at 41o46' N, 50o 14' W. (She was found 13½ miles southeast of the position given in her lastdistress call.)
3. Discuss the fact that satellite technology through GPS can pinpoint any position on Earth to within 30 feet. In 1912, navigation techniques  of dead reckoning and celestial navigation could only give one an approximate location within several miles of one's true position.If the Titanic had had better navigational aids, could its passengers have all been saved? Could it even have avoided the iceberg?
4. Track the route she took from England to New York in April, 1912.
She started from Southampton, England, and stopped at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland to pick up passengers. Her destination was New York. She sank 1000 miles due east of Boston, Massachusetts, and 375 miles southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland.
Unsinkable challenge
Build an unsinkable boat. What would it be made of? How would it be shaped?  How will you test your hypothesis? How much weight ("passengers") could it carry? How far can it tip to the side before it flips?
Reliving the moment
Draw a picture of the Titanic on that fateful night, using literature connection references. Information that should be incorporated into the work: It was night. There were icebergs. As the bow sank, the stern lifted farther and farther out of the water."Just before the ship disappeared entirely," according to Bob Ballard,"Many eyewitnesses agreed that the ship in fact broke in two, the bow plunging down while the stern briefly righted itself before turning almost vertical and sinking a few moments later."
Detail what it might have been like aboard the Titanic between 11:40PM (when the ship gently grazed the iceberg) to 2:18 AM when it disappeared below the sea.
Or draw an illustration of Jason finding the bow of the Titanic at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 12,460 ft. The ship was found in several pieces. Draw what the Titanic might look like after another 100 years on the ocean floor.
Lifeboats
How many lifeboats were needed? TheTitanic was owned by the British White Star Line, flew the British flag,and thus was under the rules and regulations of the British government. Although she was originally designed to carry 42 lifeboats, the ship carried only 20 lifeboats (four more than were required at the time by British regulations) for the 2,228 passengers and crew. (That number could supposedly hold 1,178 people.) The original designer of theTitanic had proposed 50 lifeboats, but the British owners of the White Star Line had decided against it. (If it had been under US Government regulation at the time, 42 lifeboats, enough to accommodate 2,367 persons would have been required for a ship that size.)
Only 705 people were rescued; 1523 drowned or froze to death in the icy water. Ironically, most of those who drowned were Americans. Assuming that each lifeboat could hold 65 people, how many lifeboats did they need? Unfortunately, the 20 lifeboats on board were launched in panic before they were filled to capacity, so the number of people rescued was even fewer than could have been accommodated.
Only 705 of 2,227 people on board survived. What percentage is that?
Women
22%
24%
Analyze these statistics. What do these figures tell you about the policy of saving women and children first, how social standing and wealth influenced who was rescued, and the tradition that the crew usually went down with the ship? Many of the poorest people were not aware of the seriousness of the damage to the Titanic until shortly before it sank.
(chart source: The Titanic: End of a Dream)
Materials
Chart of the Atlantic Ocean with latitude/longitude, pencils, rulers, Robert Ballard's Exploring the Titanic or The Discovery of the Titanic
More classroom activities on the Titanic:
Learn more about the Titanic's last moments and how the Titanic was found using submarines in What's in a Name?
Consider how many different professionals assisted in the finding of the Titanic in Get a Job!
Learn more about How Satellites Work.
For detailed information about the Titanic, crew, passengers, survivors and victims, please see Enclyclopedia Titanica
Search the Gulf of Maine Aquarium's extensive site:
Gulf of Maine Aquarium

Discovery of the Titanic Shipwreck in 1985
Discovery of the Titanic Shipwreck
Found by Famous Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard in 1985
A 23 x 12 ft. piece of the Titanic weighing 20 tons is on display at 'TITANIC The Artifact Exhibit' at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California. (2003).  (Photo by Michel Boutefeu/Getty Images)
By Jennifer L. Goss, Contributing Writer
Updated February 03, 2016.
After the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, the great ship slumbered on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean for over 70 years before its wreckage was discovered. On September 1, 1985, a joint American-French expedition, headed by famous American oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, found the Titanic over two miles below the ocean’s surface by using an unmanned submersible called Argo. This discovery gave new meaning to the Titanic’s sinking and gave birth to new dreams in ocean exploration.
The Titanic’s Journey
Built in Ireland from 1909 to 1912 on behalf of the British-owned White Star Line, the Titanic officially left its final European port of Queenstown, Ireland on April 11, 1912. Carrying over 2,200 passengers and crew, the Titanic began its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, headed for New York.
The Titanic carried passengers from all walks of life. Tickets were sold to first, second, and third class passengers; the latter group largely consisting of immigrants seeking a better life.
continue reading below our video
10 Best Universities in the United States
Famous first class passengers included the Astors, the Strausses, J. Bruce Ismay, and Benjamin Guggenheim.
The Sinking of the Titanic
Only three days after setting sail, the Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, somewhere in the North Atlantic. Although it took the ship over two and a half hours to sink, the vast majority of the crew and passengers perished due to a significant lack of lifeboats and improper use of those that did exist. The lifeboats could have held over 1,100 people, but only 705 people were saved; nearly 1,500 perished the night the Titanic sank.
People around the world were shocked when they heard that the “unsinkable” Titanic had sunk. They wanted to know the details of the disaster. Yet, however much the survivors could share, theories about how and why the Titanic sank would remain unsubstantiated until the wreckage of the great ship could be found. There was just one problem -- no one was sure exactly where the Titanic had sunk.
Robert Ballard
Robert Ballard wanted to find the wreckage of the Titanic. Ballard had grown up in San Diego, California, near the ocean, where he began his life-long fascination with the ocean and learned to scuba dive. After graduating from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1965 with degrees in both chemistry and geology, Ballard signed up for the Army. Two years later, in 1967, Ballard transferred to the Navy, where he was assigned to the Deep Submergence Group at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution in Massachusetts, thus beginning his illustrious career with submersibles.
By 1974, Ballard had received two doctoral degrees (marine geology and geophysics) from the University of Rhode Island and had spent a lot of time conducting deep water dives in a manned submersible he helped design, called Alvin. During subsequent dives in 1977 and 1979 near the Galapagos Rift, Ballard helped discover hydrothermal vents . More importantly, though, were the amazing plants that grew around these vents; it was the scientific study of these plants that led to the discovery of chemosynthesis , a process in which plants use chemical reactions rather than sunlight to get energy.
Yet, however many shipwrecks Ballard explored and however much of the ocean floor he mapped, Ballard never forgot about the Titanic. Ballard has said, “I always wanted to find the Titanic. That was a Mt. Everest in my world -- one of those mountains that had never been climbed.”*
Planning the Mission
Ballard wasn’t the first to try to find the Titanic. Over the years, there had been several teams who had set out to find the wreckage of the famous ship; three of them had been funded by millionaire oilman Jack Grimm. On his last expedition in 1982, Grimm had taken an underwater picture of what he believed to be a propeller from the Titanic; others believed it was only a rock. The hunt for the Titanic was to continue; this time with Ballard. But first, he needed funding.
Ballard, who had a history working with the U.S. Navy, decided to ask them to fund his expedition. The Navy did decide to fund the project, but not because they had a vested interest in finding the Titanic; instead, the Navy wanted Ballard to create the technology needed to help them find and investigate the wreckage of two nuclear submarines (the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion) that had been mysteriously lost in the 1960s.
Ballard’s search for the Titanic provided a nice cover story for the Navy, who wanted to keep their search for their lost submarines a secret from the Soviet Union. Amazingly, Ballard maintained the secrecy of his mission even as he built the technology, used it to find and explore the remains of the USS Thresher, and the remains of the USS Scorpion. Plus, while Ballard was investigating these wreckages, he learned more about debris fields, which gave him an idea as to how to find the Titanic.
Done with his secret mission, Ballard was finally able to turn to his search for the Titanic. However, while other teams had spent months looking in vain for the Titanic, Ballard now had only two weeks for his search.
Locating the Titanic
It was late August 1985 when Ballard finally began his search for the Titanic. Ballard had invited a French research team, led by Jean-Louis Michel, to join this expedition. Aboard the Navy’s oceanographic survey ship, the Knorr , Ballard and his team headed to the likely location of the Titanic’s resting place -- one thousand miles due east of Boston, Massachusetts.
While previous expeditions had used close sweeps of the ocean floor to search for the Titanic, Ballard decided to conduct mile-wide sweeps with the hope of being able to cover more area. Ballard was able to do this for two reasons. First, after examining the wreckage of the two submarines, he discovered that ocean currents often swept lighter pieces of the wreck downstream, thus leaving a long debris trail. Secondly, Ballard had engineered a new unmanned submersible (Argo) that could explore wider areas, dive deeper, stay underwater for many weeks, and deliver crisp and clear pictures of what it found. This meant that Ballard and his team could stay on board the Knorr and monitor the images from Argo, hoping to find small, man-made pieces of debris.
The Knorr arrived in the area on August 22, 1985 and began sweeps of the area using Argo. In the early morning hours of September 1, 1985, the first glimpse of the Titanic in 73 years appeared on Ballard’s screen. Exploring 12,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, the Argo relayed the image of one of the Titanic’s boilers embedded within the sandy surface of the ocean’s floor. The team on the Knorr was ecstatic about the discovery, although the realization that they were floating atop the graves of nearly 1500 individuals brought a somber tone to their celebration.
The expedition proved to be instrumental in shedding light on the Titanic’s sinking. Prior to the discovery of the wreckage, there was some belief that the Titanic had sunk in one piece. The 1985 images did not give researchers definitive information on the ship’s sinking; however, it did establish some basic foundations that countered early myths.
Subsequent Expeditions
Ballard returned to the Titanic in 1986 with new technology that allowed him to further explore the interior of the majestic ship. Images were collected that showed the remains of the beauty that so captivated those who had seen the Titanic at its height. The Grand Staircase, still-hanging chandeliers, and beautiful iron-work were all photographed during Ballard’s second successful expedition.
Since 1985, there have been several dozen expeditions to the Titanic. Many of these expeditions have been controversial since salvagers brought up several thousand artifacts from the ship’s remains. Ballard has been widely outspoken against these efforts, claiming that he felt the ship deserved to rest in peace. During his two initial expeditions, he decided not to bring any discovered artifacts to the surface. He felt that others should honor the sanctity of the wreckage in a similar fashion.
The most proliferate salvager of Titanic artifacts has been RMS Titanic Inc. The company has brought many notable artifacts to the surface, including a large piece of the ship’s hull, passenger luggage, dinnerware, and even documents preserved in oxygen-starved compartments of steamer trunks. Due to negotiations between its predecessor company and the French government, the RMS Titanic group cannot sell the artifacts; however, they can put them on display and charge admission to recoup expenses and create profit. The largest exhibition of these artifacts today is located in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Luxor Hotel.
Titanic Returns to the Silver Screen
Although the Titanic has been featured in numerous films through the years, it was James Cameron’s 1997 film, Titanic, that stimulated massive, world-wide interest in the ship’s fate. The movie became one of the most popular films ever made.
The 100th Anniversary
The 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2012 also fueled renewed interest in the tragedy, 15 years after Cameron’s film. The wreckage site is now eligible to be named a protected area as a UNESCO World Heritage site and Ballard is also working to preserve what remains.
An expedition in August 2012, revealed that increased human activity has caused the ship to break down at a faster rate than previously expected. Ballard has a plan to slow the process of degradation – painting the Titanic while it remains 12,000 feet below the ocean’s surface.
The discovery of the Titanic was a momentous accomplishment but now the world is conflicted about how to care for this historical wreck.
* Quote by Dr. Robert Ballard from National Geographic’s Titanic: Ballard’s Secret Mission (2008).

Human remains possibly found in Titanic shipwreck - NY Daily News
Human remains possibly found in Titanic shipwreck
Human remains possibly found in Titanic shipwreck
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The remains of a coat and boots, articulated in the mud on the sea bed near Titanic's stern, are suggestive evidence of where a victim of the disaster came to rest.
(AP)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, April 15, 2012, 9:41 AM
Human remains may be embedded in the mud of the North Atlantic where the New York-bound Titanic came to rest when it sank 100 years ago, a federal official said Saturday.
A 2004 photograph, released to the public for the first time this week in an uncropped version to coincide with the disaster’s centenary, shows a coat and boots in the mud at the legendary shipwreck site.
“These are not shoes that fell out neatly from somebody’s bag right next to each other,” James Delgado , the director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
PHOTOS: LOOKING BACK 100 YEARS LATER: THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC
The way they are “laid out” makes a “compelling case” that it is where “someone has come to rest,” he said.
The image, along with two others showing pairs of boots resting next to each other, were taken during an expedition led by NOAA and famed Titanic finder Robert Ballard in 2004. They were published in Ballard’s book on the expedition. Delgado said the one showing a coat and boots was cropped to show only a boot.
AP
Filmmaker James Cameron , who has visited the wreck 33 times, has said he has seen “zero human remains” during his extensive explorations of the Titanic.
The New York Times first reported about the photographs in Saturday editions.
Filmmaker James Cameron, who has visited the wreck 33 times, told the newspaper that he had seen “zero human remains” during his extensive explorations of the Titanic. “We’ve seen shoes. We’ve seen pairs of shoes, which would strongly suggest there was a body there at one point. But we’ve never seen any human remains.”
For Delgado, who was the chief scientist on an expedition in 2010 that mapped the entire site, the difference in opinion is “one of semantics.”
“I as an archaeologist would say those are human remains,” he said, referring to the photograph of the coat and boots specifically. “Buried in that sediment are very likely forensic remains of that person.”
NEW BOOKS REVEAL MORE OF THE TITANIC STORY
He said in an email that the images “speak to the power of that tragic and powerful scene 2 1/2 miles below” and “to its resilience as an undersea museum, as well as its fragility.”
“This is an appropriate time to note the human cost of that event, and the fact that in this special place at the bottom of the sea, evidence of the human cost, in the form of the shattered wreck, the scattered luggage, fittings and other artifacts, and the faint but unmistakable evidence that this is where people came to rest, is present,” he said.
He said the images are also evidence that society could do a better job protecting the site.
There has been a long fight to protect the Titanic since it was rediscovered by Ballard in 1985, beginning with a federal law passed by Congress aimed at creating an international agreement to transform the shipwreck into an international maritime memorial. Sen. John Kerry introduced what some observers see as stronger legislation April 1 aimed at protecting the site from “salvage and intrusive research.”
But the luxury liner, which went down April 14, 1912, after striking an iceberg, sits in international waters, limiting what the U.S. government can do.
Delgado said an international treaty would need to be negotiated between Britain, Canada, France and the U.S.
Join the Conversation:

Titanic May Hold Passengers’ Remains, Officials Say - The New York Times
The New York Times
Science |Experts Split on Possibility of Remains at Titanic Site
Search
Continue reading the main story
Photo
A boot on the seabed lies near what is thought to be a coat in this 2004 image. “There are people inside,” said James P. Delgado, who works for the agency that released the image. James Cameron, the moviemaker, said that in his 33 visits to the wreck, “I’ve seen zero human remains.” Credit Institute for Exploration/Center for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island/NOAA Office of Exploration and Research
Federal officials, who have long struggled to assert protective authority over the resting place of the Titanic, say the site may harbor many undiscovered corpses and thus should be accorded the respect of a graveyard and shielded from looters and artifact hunters.
“There are people inside,” said James P. Delgado, director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , which monitors the wreck.
His agency, an arm of the Commerce Department, has released to the news media an image from 2004 that shows a boot on the seabed near what the agency calls a coat. “The articulation of the coat and boots are highly suggestive of someone coming to rest here,” Mr. Delgado said by e-mail. “This is the first full release of the whole image and the first explicit captioning.”
The bold federal assertions are dividing Titanic experts. The most experienced divers say they doubt that bodies lie intact in unexplored compartments of the deteriorating ship.
“I’ve seen zero human remains,” James Cameron , the moviemaker and explorer, who has visited the wreck 33 times and extensively probed its interior, said in an interview.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
“We’ve seen clothing,” he added. “We’ve seen shoes. We’ve seen pairs of shoes, which would strongly suggest there was a body there at one point. But we’ve never seen any human remains.”
Right now, of course, is an excellent time for federal officials to press their concerns and make their case for new protections.
Sunday is the centenary of the sinking, and — not coincidentally — Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat, has introduced a bill that would give the Commerce Department new supervisory powers to protect the Titanic wreck site from salvagers and intrusive research.
The fight for protection began shortly after the Titanic was found in 1985 more than two miles down at the bottom of the North Atlantic, upright but split in two. The international waters ensured a long struggle over legal jurisdiction — even as salvagers made off with thousands of artifacts.
In 1986, Congress passed a protective law known as the R.M.S. Titanic Memorial Act , but officials at the ocean agency and elsewhere agree that it has no teeth. In 2004, the United States, France, Canada and Britain signed a draft treaty for better safeguards. But it has never been approved because it requires legislative support — which the Kerry bill would provide.
While seeking to enhance their custodial role, federal officials are now pressing the question of the missing dead. After the Titanic sank, searchers recovered 340 bodies. Thus, of the roughly 1,500 people killed in the disaster, about 1,160 bodies remain lost.
In an interview, Dr. Delgado of the ocean agency said the muddy seabed showed “clear signs” of human imprint. “Yes, you don’t see much in the way of bone,” he said, referring to the newly released photograph. “But this is clearly where someone came to rest on the bottom. It speaks powerfully to it being a grave site.”
Paul H. Nargeolet, a French mini-sub pilot who has visited the Titanic 30 times — the second-most experienced diver, after Mr. Cameron — said he had never seen any human remains.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Skeptics say that federal officials are exaggerating scanty evidence in an effort to expand their powers.
“It’s a legal tactic,” said David G. Concannon, a maritime lawyer who has dived to the Titanic’s resting place and advised the Explorers Club. “The opponents of salvage want to equate it to a grave site.”
But Mr. Delgado of NOAA defended his agency, saying: “We’re not pushing for bureaucratic turf. We’re pushing for international cooperation to protect the wreck.”
Scholars say most of the people who died were probably in life jackets and swept far to sea by wind and waves. After the sinking, a storm blew up that was reported to have scattered bobbing corpses in a line 50 miles long.
Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box.
Invalid email address. Please re-enter.
You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.
Sign Up
Privacy Policy
But some Titanic historians argue that as many as hundreds of people were trapped inside the sinking ship.
In the deep sea, a main factor that governs decomposition is the amount of oxygen dissolved in the surrounding seawater. When plentiful, oxygen supports the respiration of deep-sea scavengers. Currents that crisscross the global deep constantly deliver fresh oxygen that can energize armies of worms, fish and other organisms that display voracious appetites.
Leather is typically unaffected. Archaeologists have found intact sandals in ancient shipwrecks.
Decomposition slows if bodies get cut off from the open sea, reducing oxygen levels and scavengers. The interiors of old wrecks have thus yielded bones, teeth and sometimes whole bodies.
“It’s totally dependent on where they were,” said Tom Dettweiler, a veteran sea explorer who helped find the Titanic’s resting place. “In modern wrecks, you can get microenvironments that preserve bodies.”
For the Titanic, the oxygen factor means scavengers long ago feasted on nearby corpses. But — in theory, at least — bodies in undamaged areas of the hull would be less vulnerable if sealed off from currents and oxygen.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
In 1987, two years after the Titanic’s discovery, deep sea explorers began gathering artifacts and tiptoeing around the body issue.
One expedition found what appeared to be a wedding band and part of a human finger while probing a debris field, according to a new book, “Farewell, Titanic.” It says the explorers quickly decided to rebury the grim find and declare the area off limits.
In 2000, amid an escalating legal war with artifact hunters, the ocean agency issued draft guidelines for the site’s preservation. Of the disaster’s 1,500 victims, the paper asserted, “many of those were trapped in the ship’s hull.” It cited no evidence.
Today the ocean agency is more specific. Its Web site says inner areas of the hull “may not be exposed” to the surrounding environment and thus have low oxygen levels, a state known as anoxia.
Isolated environments, it says, “create a condition of stasis where constant pressure, low temperatures, no flow, and anoxic water levels have been known to preserve organic matter for centuries.”
In the interview, Mr. Cameron dismissed the idea. Ocean currents, he said, “blow through the ship like a drafty house with all the windows open.” He called preserved bodies “highly conjectural” and “not based on the data.”
Visibly miffed, Mr. Cameron added that no federal official “has ever called me up and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you make all your hundreds of hours of interior survey available to us so we can actually have an informed opinion?’ ” Despite his reservations about the federal assertions, he noted that he was still in favor of the site’s preservation.
Other Titanic experts — including Robert D. Ballard, a discoverer of the wreck who has long advocated its protection — echo federal officials and call it possible and perhaps likely that human remains lie intact in unexplored compartments.
“I would not be surprised if highly preserved bodies were found in the engine room,” he said. “That was deep inside the ship.”
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Asked how many bodies the broken hull of the Titanic might hold, Dr. Ballard replied: “Dozens. Hundreds starts to feel uncomfortable. I know that lots landed on the bottom, because there are so many shoes.”
A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2012, on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Experts Split On Possibility Of Remains At Titanic Site. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Are there human remains at the Titanic wreck site?
Are there human remains at the Titanic wreck site?
The Week Staff
The Titanic's bow and railing 12,600 feet below the surface: Do bodies decomposed into mud constitute "human remains"?
Emory Kristof/National Geographic
10 things you need to know today
Today's best articles
Today's top cartoons
Daily business briefing
When the RMS Titanic sank 100 years ago, about 1,500 passengers and crew went down with it. Some 340 of these victims were found floating in their life jackets in the days following the shipwreck. But what happened to the other 1,160 is still a mystery. Newly released photos suggest that at least some of the unlucky travelers' remains are mixed in with the wreckage of the ship. The question is controversial — after 33 trips to the ship, "I've seen zero human remains," a "visibly miffed" Titanic director James Cameron tells The New York Times — and a lot may ride on the answer. Here's a look at the dispute:
What could have happened to the bodies?
Some Titanic experts say a powerful storm the night of the wreck scattered the life-jacketed passengers in a 50-mile-wide area, so it's likely the bodies scattered across the seafloor. Other experts say hundreds of people were trapped inside the ship when it sank. The state of those bodies would depend on how exposed to currents of oxygenated water — and the deep-sea scavengers that thrive on it — they were over the years. "Decomposition slows if bodies get cut off from the open sea, reducing oxygen levels and scavengers," says William J. Broad in The New York Times . "The interiors of old wrecks have thus yielded bones, teeth, and sometimes whole bodies." As Titanic expert Robert Ballard tells the Times: "I would not be surprised if highly preserved bodies were found in the engine room. That was deep inside the ship."
What do the new photos show?
The most discussed photo captures leather boots and what appears to be a coat buried in the mud near the Titanic's stern. (Deep-sea scavengers are less interested in devouring leather than bodies.) The way the boots are laid out, says James Delgado, the director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), strongly suggests that they landed there while still on the feet and back of a person.  "This is clearly where someone came to rest on the bottom," Delgado tells The New York Times . "[The photo] speaks powerfully to this being a grave site."
Why is the photo just surfacing now?
A cropped version of the photo actually appeared in a book by Ballard, the explorer who discovered the Titanic in 1985 and who worked with the NOAA on the 2004 expedition during which the images were captured. This is the first time the NOAA has released the uncropped version to the public and it did so just days after Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would give the Commerce Department more power to protect the site from artifact hunters and intrusive expeditions, which have been taking place since 1987. If the site is essentially declared an undersea cemetery, that would bolster the government's argument.
What do skeptics say?
Those who have spent the most time exploring the wreckage insist that any bodies at the site have long since decomposed, arguing against the graveyard designation. "We've seen clothing," Cameron tells The Times . "We've seen shoes. We've seen pairs of shoes, which would strongly suggest there was a body there at one point. But we've never seen any human remains." Skeptics accuse NOAA, a branch of the Commerce Department, of exaggerating the photographic evidence as part of a power grab.
So are there bodies at the site?
We may never know if bodies or skeletons are trapped inside the ship. The question of whether shoes, as depicted in the photos, constitute evidence of human remains on the ocean floor probably comes down to semantics, says NOAA's Delgado . The bodies may be reduced to sediment in the boots and under the coat: "I, as an archaeologist, would say those are human remains," whereas explorers like Cameron might call them mud.

Titanic 100th anniversary: Shoes and coat found at wreck site implies likely resting place of human remains | Daily Mail Online
comments
Newly-released photos show the haunting images of Titanic victim's clothing lining the bottom of the ocean floor 100 years after the New York-bound ship sank in the North Atlantic.
A 2004 photograph, released to the public for the first time this week in an uncropped version to coincide with the disaster's centenary, shows a coat and boots in the mud at the legendary shipwreck site.
It came as the passengers of a cruise ship retracing the route of the ill-fated liner RMS Titanic held an emotional memorial service at the exact spot where the ship sank on its maiden voyage a century ago.
'These are not shoes that fell out neatly from somebody's bag right next to each other,' said James Delgado, the director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration.
What remains: The fact that the pair of boots were found so close to each other implies that they were probably on the feet of a victim whose body has since disintegrated
The way they are 'laid out' makes a 'compelling case' that it is where 'someone has come to rest,' he said.
The image, along with two others showing pairs of boots resting next to each other, were taken during an expedition led by NOAA and famed Titanic finder Robert Ballard in 2004. They were published in Ballard's book on the expedition. Mr Delgado said the one showing a coat and boots was cropped to show only a boot.
RELATED ARTICLES
Share
The New York Times first reported about the photographs in Saturday editions.
Filmmaker James Cameron, who has visited the wreck 33 times, told the newspaper that he had seen 'zero human remains' during his extensive explorations of the Titanic.
'We've seen shoes. We've seen pairs of shoes, which would strongly suggest there was a body there at one point. But we've never seen any human remains,' Mr Cameron said.
More findings: A number of pairs were found near a coat and some other items in the sea bed
For Mr Delgado, who was the chief scientist on an expedition in 2010 that mapped the entire site, the difference in opinion is 'one of semantics.'
'I as an archaeologist would say those are human remains,' he said, referring to the photograph of the coat and boots specifically.
'Buried in that sediment are very likely forensic remains of that person.'
He said in an email that the images 'speak to the power of that tragic and powerful scene 2 1/2 miles below' and 'to its resilience as an undersea museum, as well as its fragility.'
Extrapolating: Though previous expeditions, like that of film-maker James Cameron, said that they did not see human remains, others feel that it is obvious that the victims bodies were there at one point
'This is an appropriate time to note the human cost of that event, and the fact that in this special place at the bottom of the sea, evidence of the human cost, in the form of the shattered wreck, the scattered luggage, fittings and other artifacts, and the faint but unmistakable evidence that this is where people came to rest, is present,' he said.
He said the images are also evidence that society could do a better job protecting the site.
There has been a long fight to protect the Titanic since it was rediscovered by Mr Ballard in 1985, beginning with a federal law passed by Congress aimed at creating an international agreement to transform the shipwreck into an international maritime memorial.
Senator John Kerry introduced what some observers see as stronger legislation April 1 aimed at protecting the site from 'salvage and intrusive research.'
Poignant: Passengers take part in the Titanic memorial service 100 years after the disaster at the site where it sunk in the North Atlantic. About 50 of the 1,309 passengers on board have a direct link with the doomed liner
Respect: Rev. Canon Huw Mosford, leads the service marking the 100th year anniversary of the Titanic disaster, aboard the MS Balmoral Titanic cruise ship, in the North Atlantic ocean
But the luxury liner, which went down  April 14, 1912 after striking an iceberg, sits in international waters,  limiting what the U.S. government can do. Mr Delgado said an international treaty would need to be negotiated between Britain, Canada, France and the U.S.
At 11.40pm last  night - the time the ship hit the iceberg - passengers gathered on the  decks of MS Balmoral, which has been retracing the route of the doomed  voyage.
About 50 of the 1,309 passengers on board Balmoral have a direct family connection to the
sinking.
The  Balmoral left Southampton last Sunday for a 12-night cruise to  commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the liner that hit an  iceberg on its maiden voyage.
Jane Allen, from Devon, whose  great-uncle perished on the Titanic, said the moment vividly reminded  her of the horror of the disaster.
Emotional: A crew member throws a wreath overboard during the Titanic memorial service at the wreck site
A wreath floats after being thrown into the sea during the Titanic service of remembrance
Sadness: Passengers take part in the Titanic memorial service 100 years after it sank
'All  you could hear was the swell splashing against the side of the ship.  You could see the white breakers stretching out to sea,' she told the  BBC.
'You are in the  middle of nowhere. And then you look down over the side of the ship and  you realise that every man and every woman who didn't make it into a  lifeboat had to make that decision, of when to jump or stay on the ship  as the lights went out.
'And when the lights went out it was horrendous.'
Patricia Watts, 81, a retired teacher from Bristol, who is travelling with her husband David, 80, remembered her grandfather, George MacKie, 34, from Southampton, who was a second-class steward on board the Titanic.
Patricia Watt with her husband David, holds a picture of her grandfather George Mackie, who died on Titanic
Cruise ship passengers and crew said prayers Sunday at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago
Three wreaths lie on the memorial cruise ship before they are thrown into the North Atlantic to remember those who died on board Titanic
Before the service she said: 'When we get to the wreck site there will be some sadness, but I think also some sense of release.
TICKET FOR TITANIC'S DOOMED  MAIDEN VOYAGE SOLD FOR $56,000
A New York auction house has sold an original ticket to the 1912 launch of the Titanic for $56,250.
Also in the block Sunday at Bonhams was a menu, touting choices like the tongue of a castrated rooster and beef sirloin with horseradish, which fetched  $31,250.
Both went to private American buyers.
Gregg Dietrich, Bonhams' maritime consultant,  said one surprise at the auction was the comparatively low price paid for a telegraph that read, 'We have struck an iceberg' which sold for  $27,500.
The most curious lot of the day, Dietrich said, sold for $12,500: three rivets and a piece of porthole glass recovered from the wreckage.
'I shall feel a sense of accomplishment that I have achieved what I set out to do. I think the service will be a very memorable occasion, slightly sad, but also for a lot of people it will be the event of the cruise.'
Another cruise ship, Journey, which has  travelled from New York, also held a service at the site of the  disaster, 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
In Belfast, a minute's silence also held during another poignant service.
A  great, great nephew of the ship's doctor helped to unveil bronze  plaques listing more than 1,500 passengers, crew and musicians who died  when the liner struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic on April  15, 1912.
The boat was  built in a Belfast shipyard and relatives of workmen who made and crewed  the vessel were present for today's ceremony.
Jack  Martin, a 12-year-old descendant of Dr John Simpson, lay a wreath and  said: 'I am proud that I am keeping the memory of my ancestor alive and  it keeps memories fresh.'
A letter penned on board the Titanic by the Belfast doctor to his mother is to be brought back to Belfast for exhibition.
The  letter, from assistant ship surgeon Dr John Edward Simpson, was written  on notepaper headed RMS Titanic and brought ashore at Cobh, County  Cork. From there it was posted to his mother, Elizabeth, who lived in  south Belfast.
Dr Simpson  was married and had one son when he took the commission on Titanic. He  had previously worked on another White Star Line ship - the Olympic.
Remembrance: Roses rest on a plaque bearing the names of those who died when the Titanic sank in Belfast's City Hall
Legacy: Alex Aaronson, six, from north America, whose relative Artie Frost, 38, perished on the Titanic, in the new memorial garden at Belfast City Hall on the 100th anniversary of the ship sinking
In the letter, Dr Simpson said  he was settling into his cabin well and that the accommodation on board  his new vessel was larger.
Jack's father John Martin today said it meant a lot to him that the note was to be on display in Belfast.
'It is the last tangible object that we have from John Simpson, everything else that he had was lost,' he said.
'It is the last thing that we know he actually touched, that means a lot to the family.'
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (centre) attends a requiem service at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Belfast, on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago
The service, held beside the  city hall, took less than an hour and featured solo pieces by singer  Brian Kennedy and reflections from actor Dan Gordon and minister the Rev  Ian Gilpin.
Belfast Lord  Mayor Niall O`Donnghaile, Jack Martin and a representative of the  Harland and Wolff shipyard, where the vessel was built, laid wreaths at  the new memorial.
The names of the dead, from all classes on the doomed liner, are engraved in alphabetical order on five bronze plaques.
When the Titanic sank with its three classes  of passenger, a disproportionate number of victims were in third  class. This is the first time all, including crew, are recognised on one  memorial.
Doomed: A photo taken of the 'unsinkable' Titanic in 1912 which sank in the North Atlantic on April 15
The sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage has fascinated people ever since it sunk 100 years ago in 1912
The Rev Ian Gilpin said: 'We  behold the Titanic memorial, we remember all those who perished and  whose names are herein inscribed - men, women and children who loved and  we loved, their loss still poignantly felt by their descendants.
'In  the permanence of granite, marble and stone may there be a permanence  in our remembrance, in diversity, in the colour and fragrance of the flowers of the memorial, that the memorial be an acknowledgement of the  diversity of humankind.'
After  the wreath-laying a minute's silence was held for private reflection  then the hymn Nearer My God to Thee, which was played by the band before  the ship sank, rang out.
He said: 'This setting is dedicated to two people, one who died very old and one who died very young.
'Within my own experience, they mirrored the huge range of people who lost their lives as a result of the Titanic disaster.'
Dr  Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck in 1985, was in Belfast for  today's ceremony and delivered a memorial lecture yesterday.
A funeral pall to commemorate the disaster will also be unveiled at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral, in Belfast.
Childhood home of Titanic captain to be put up for sale 100 years after tragedy
Captain Edward Smith's childhood home has gone up for sale and is on the market for £80,000
The house where Titanic captain Edward John Smith was born is up for sale at a bargain price.
The  skipper of the ill-fated liner grew up in the two-bed Victorian terrace  in Well Street, Hanley, Staffordshire, which is now on the market for  £80,000.
The history of the  humble home attracted the current owners to buy it 10 years ago and now  they hope to pass it on to a historical custodian who can make the most  of its past.
Neil and Louise Bonner snapped the house up for less than £50,000 as an investment and rented it out.
But now on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, they have put it on the market.
Mr  Bonner, 64, who is a journalist said: 'It's been fascinating to have  had a connection to the Titanic story. It's certainly provided an  interesting talking point over the years.'
The couple from Stafford are hoping  to capitalise on the interest in the centenary year of the loss of the  passenger liner which collided with an iceberg and sank off the coast of  Newfoundland.
More than 1,500 people including Captain Edward John Smith died in the 1912 tragedy.
He  and his pottery worker parents are believed to have lived in the house  for more than a decade. He worked at a local steelmaker before heading  off to sea aged 13, where he progressed from ship's boy to captain.
Mrs  Bonner, 60, who is a retired university lecturer, said: 'It's hard to  understand what motivated him to go to sea.He came from a typical  working class Potteries family and he went on to achieve so much.
'The house has already attracted interest from Germany and America.'
Estate  agent Tabatha Cartlidge said: 'The history of this property is likely  to be the draw for potential buyers. We anticipate it may attract  interest from across the world.'

RMS Titanic is found by Dr Robert Ballad
1st September 1985
 
In the 1980s Dr. Robert Ballard was determined to discover the Titanic. On several occasions he tried to rally an expedition to find the most famous shipwreck of all time. To him undersea exploration was easy but the Titanic, deep on the Atlantic sea bed would push boundaries further than any deep sea diver had previously gone.
 
Equipment had to be specially designed to withstand the water pressures of the depths they needed to explore. The Titanic would lay at a depth over 13,000 feet.
In 1973, the submersible Alvin went through design changes. Inparticular, her steel hull was replaced with titanium alloy which could better withstand the depths involved.
Eventually funding was granted from Woods Hole and equipment was borrowed from various sources that included a side scan sonar, a deep-towed magnetometer, an LIBEC imaging system and of course underwater cameras.
The Titanic's distress signal placed the Titanic at 41°46'N, 50° 14' west. Part of the British Enquiry was to ascertain if this was exact. It concluded that the position given was slightly inaccurate as the Carpathia, who raced to the Titanic's rescue, reached the lifeboats before they should have done if the position was accurate.
Ballard's search strategy was simply: they would scan the ocean floor within a best search triangle until they found the ship.
Earlier in 1981 Jack Grimm led a team to find the ship, positive that they were searching the exact spot the ship foundered - they had not. Revised calculations suggested that the Titanic was eight miles further north than previously thought. They allowed for the speed of the lifeboats and the probable drift Titanic would have had on her way both after she had stopped and then down to the bottom of the ocean.
After reworking these calculations, a second 1981 expedition failed again. The Deep-tow passed within a mile and a half of the wreck but the sonar scanners were out of range. After three weeks of searching Grimm was convinced he had found one of Titanic's propellers. He began to tell the world that Titanic had been found.
Two years later Grimm wanted to search the area again but the expedition failed. Ballard who had followed the expeditions with great interest realised that Grimm had not spent enough time looking for the ship. It was now Ballard's turn.
Ballard had a realisation which led him to develop the Argo/Jason concept. When assembled they were a remote controlled deep towed deep sea video vessel combined with a swimming robot on a cable leash. The name of the project was derived form Greek mythology (Jason and the Argonauts).
Argo would be an unmanned submarine loaded with video cameras towed above the ocean bottom at the end of fibre-optical wires. The built in sonar could scan accurately the ocean floor for small debris.
In 1984 the US Navy agreed to fund a three week test for the following summer and Argo was built.
Aboard the Knorr, Ballard sailed to where he believed the Titanic sank. He hoped that his French colleagues had not beaten him to the wreck. However, by the end three weeks he had not found the ship and on August 6 1985 headed home.
Lateral thinking
 
When a ship it sinks it leaves a path of debris (objects from within the ship or objects breaking off). Depending how deep the vessel sinks this debris can be scattered over a large distance. On a shorter descent, the debris falls more or less vertically. However, as the Titanic sank 21/2 miles a huge debris field was expected.
A new search strategy was formed. This time they would first look for the debris field rather than the Titanic herself.
The logbook of the Californian enabled Ballard and his crew to estimate the speed and direction of drift of the lifeboats. The Californian was between five to ten miles away from the Titanic at the time of the disaster and reported in its log that they had experienced drift. Also Ballard knew that the Titanic had to be north of where the lifeboats were found.
 
On August 24 1985 Ballard returned to the vacinity of the Titanic. He had 12 days to locate the wreck. Argo was launched the next day but encountered technical problems. After another six days, the crew was fed up with the monotiny of observing sand, mud and the bottomless ocean.
But on the 1st September 1985 a strange appeared on the Video monitors. A BOILER!!!
 
The RMS Titanic had to be near.
New hopes were realised. Argo was launched to scan the search area for the Titanic. Eventually at an altitude of 160 feet above the bed, Argo passed over the main hull of the ship. They could see that the funnel had gone (the one which Lightoller recalled saved his life when it tore out of its fixtures moments before the ship went down).
Their first look at the Titanic lasted six minutes: she was upright and a large section of her hull was in tact. She laid 13,000 feet below the surface.
Following much the cheering and clapping, reverential silence overcame the crew of the Knorr. It was almost 2 a.m. and very close to the time when the Titanic actually sank. Argo was used to photograph the wreck during the many passages made over her.
Soon news that the Titanic had been found had reached the corners of the world. Once more the RMS Titanic was in the minds of millions of people.
 
EXPLORATION OF THE TITANIC
Day 1
On July 13th 1986 another Ballard expedition was underway to explore the Titanic in more detail.
Jason Junior (JJ) would be used to video the Titanic. JJ would be operated on a long cable attached to Alvin which contained three crew who would steer JJ.
Day 2
After a short lived dive due to battery failure, a second dive proved highly successful.
Apparently from nowhere, the razor sharp bow of the Titanic came into view. Both anchors were still in place. It appeared that the bow was buried more than 60 foot in the mud.
Ballard described the decaying metal as "frozen rivers of rust covering the ships' side and spread out over the ocean floor."
As Alvin moved across the forward deck, the giant bollards and capstans were clearly visible although the wires and ropes once connected to them were gone. The wooden floor had been eaten away.
The expedition continued to the severed section of the intact bow section. A sudden strong current stopped the trip and Alvin was forced to head to the surface.
Day 3
JJ traversed the Grand Staircase, which at one time had been covered by a glass dome. Whatever JJ saw, Alvin's crew saw too. A Chandelier had survived the journey to the bottom of the sea. JJ's maiden voyage was a total success.
Day 4
The team visited Captain Smith's cabin to find its outer walls collapsed to a heap on the deck. Next, JJ explored the Gym where pieces of equipment could be seen in amongst the rubble. Metal frames from the electric camel were also intact.
Day 5
The debris field spans nearly 2000 feet between the two sections of the Titanic. The debris includes lumps of coal, wrought-iron deck benches, baths, crockery and other bric-a-brac.
Another boiler was found with an iron cup sitting peacefully on top of it. A safe was found on the ocean floor proudly showing off its brass handle. Ballard tried to open the safe but the door would not open to reveal its contents.
Day 6
It was clear from the debris field that the torn-off stern section had been badly damaged during its journey to the bottom and now lay 1,970 feet from the bow section.
Ballard's next plan lead Alvin along the bottom of the ocean bed directly behind the stern section and sent JJ to examine the hull. He found that the stern section was also buried deep beneath the mud, probably to a depth of 45 feet. Both middle and starboard side propellers were under the mud.
Before leaving the wreck, Ballard placed a memorial plaque on the stern in memory of those who lost their lives on that fateful night.