Back to the Titanic (2020) - full transcript

Back to the Titanic documents the first manned dives to Titanic in nearly 15 years. New footage reveals fresh decay and sheds light on the ship's future.

Narrator: Titanic, the
world's most famous ship.

Sunk over 100 years ago
and rediscovered in 1985.

She fascinates like no other wreck
and still has secrets to reveal.

Parks: There's sometimes about
this story that grips people.

Everybody finds something
in this disaster,

it's so varied and so
all encompassing.

Narrator: It's nearly 15 years since
anyone dived down to see titanic.

The world is anxious to know
what's happened to her.

Victor: There could be a couple
of major portions of the titanic

that might have collapsed.

Narrator: Now, a new expedition
is heading for the wreck site.



Stuart: Okay, good to go.

Radio: Good to go.

Narrator: World leading experts armed
with state of the art technology.

Kelvin: We'll send this
bad boy to the bottom.

Narrator: It's a race against
time to answer questions.

Patrick: Okay, tom
last check.

Radio: Roger that.

Narrator: And preserve titanic
for future generations.

Stuart: Two minutes.
Radio: Two minutes.

Narrator: Before
it's too late.

Victor: Let's go
back to titanic.

Radio: Prepare to dive.
Prepare to dive.

Radio: Better draw up
all stations bridge.

Stuart: Eta over the wreck is
approximately ten minutes from now.



Narrator: The team is arriving
at the titanic wreck site.

Narrator: The ship lies three miles down in
the icy depths of the north atlantic ocean.

Rob: Okay so
welcome everyone.

We wanted to meet this
afternoon to go over

the dive plans for the
next two days,

so you have two pieces
of paper.

Narrator: The team gathers
to go over their mission.

A plan to carry out a series of dives
to titanic over the coming week.

Victor: The first thing I'm gonna do
when I get down to the bottom is,

as I mentioned, I'm gonna
just go thrusters off

and I'm gonna see
what the drift is.

Narrator: Victor vescovo has
put this expedition together.

Victor: There could be a couple
of major portions of titanic

that might have collapsed.

Most people are interested in the bow,
because the bow is still quite discernible

as the bow of the titanic
and I am hopeful

that it hasn't significantly
collapsed, which would be unfortunate.

Narrator: Nobody has dived down
to titanic in nearly 15 years.

So victor's major concern is what may have
happened since she was last examined.

Parks: From the first time this wreck
was seen in 1985 with each expedition,

we've observed the
condition of the wreck.

Narrator: Victor has gathered
world leading experts,

to ensure this mission
is a success,

including titanic specialist,
parks stephenson.

Parks: I've always seen
the wreck as truly

the last surviving witness
to the disaster,

almost like a crime scene.

Lori: Well, that
one will be fine.

I'm just gonna-I have to get dimensions
of the first platform that we have,

but I'm pretty sure that it
won't fit in there. Crew: Yeah.

Narrator: Microbial ecologist lori johnston
is another key member of the team.

She's responsible for collecting
important data on the wreck's condition.

Lori: From '98, I was able to dive
on titanic six different times.

The last time I personally
saw it was 2005.

So it'll be very interesting to
see the amount of deterioration.

Crew: Okay, roger that, can
you confirm the connectors?

(inaudible radio)

victor: This is the deep submergence
vehicle. The limiting factor.

It's the deepest diving
submersible in the whole world

and she is an absolute
wonderful sub and a beast.

She is so tough.

Narrator: The limiting factor was specially
designed by the team for missions like this.

Patrick: Okay, tom, last check,
we're gonna just have tim,

or maybe you can just
secure your own hatch.

Radio: Roger that.
Securing hatch.

Narrator: When victor isn't piloting
the sub, patrick lahey will be.

Patrick: Okay, tim. First thing is the
pressure hull which is made of titanium.

Hull's about 90 mm thick, which is
three and a half inches in thickness

and it has three view ports.

Two that are on the top
looking out through the port

and starboard sides and
then one lower view port

that gives you a great view of
the areas on the sea floor.

Crew: Good.
Radio: Turning starboard.

Kelvin: I mean everything
is so tight, you know,

everything is in
tight corners.

Narrator: The team's fitting the sub
with a super high resolution 4k camera.

It's been specially commissioned
for this mission to film the wreck

in the best
definition possible.

It's big, but delicate.

Kelvin: Having this camera here means that
we're gonna have to be very very careful.

It's gonna make it a lot more
difficult for the launch and recovery

and we're gonna have to be
really really careful.

Really careful.

Rob: So the hazards are, you
know, we are going deep,

and the fact that we're diving
around a human made object,

we're around a wreck structure
with potentially strong current.

This wreck has been down there for 107
years, so it's inherently unstable

and she lies across the current which
is running up to two knots at a time.

Patrick: Diving around a wreck presents
a unique set of risks and concerns.

The primary one being
entanglement, you know,

a wreck can have
things like ropes

and obstructions and things of that nature,
that present a hazard to the craft.

Victor: The idea is to go here and then
we'll come up here and pretty much, I mean,

everyone has told me not to get too
close and to be extremely careful,

because there are
still wires.

Narrator: The success of
the first dive is vital.

It will allow the team
to plot additional dives.

Failure and the expedition
could end abruptly.

Rob: Cool. If no one's
got any questions,

then our next gig is 6:45 up on
the foredeck tomorrow morning.

Narrator: Preparation is over.
Tomorrow, the team will attempt

to dive to the most
famous ship in history.

Stuart: Weather conditions now are worse
than they were on the forecast yesterday.

Narrator: The first dive is due to
be launching in less than an hour.

But conditions
aren't looking good.

The crew's having
to secure equipment.

Stuart: So, the biggest waves you can see
coming through now are probably four,

four and a half meters
which is pretty much double

the maximum limit to
operate the sub.

(dramatic music)

victor: So, you called it.

Stuart: It's not a nice decision to
make and no one wants to make it,

but it's the one that needs to be made so.
Victor: Yeah, I agree.

Do the people
downstairs know?

Narrator: The first
launch is aborted.

If the bad weather doesn't pass soon,
the entire mission will be in jeopardy.

Victor: Let's go down in mission control,
just to announce it to everybody.

Stuart: Okay, good to go.
Radio: Good to go.

Narrator: Next morning, there's
a break in the weather.

Radio: Setting five minutes.

Stuart: Five
minutes, okey doke.

(music)

(radio chatter)

narrator: The dive is on.

Kelvin: We're going
to the titanic.

Weather's not bad.

It was rougher last night, I thought it
was gonna be kind of rough this morning,

but it's laid down a bit, so I'm comfortable
with this, we can launch in this.

We'll send this bad
boy to the bottom.

Narrator: This will be the first
ever solo dive to titanic.

Stuart: Two minutes.
Radio: Two minutes.

(music)

male: Good luck, victor.
Say hello to the old girl.

Victor: I will. Let's
go back to titanic.

(music)

radio: You're clear to
dive, clear to dive.

Victor: Roger that,
lf is clear to dive,

I've got a green board,
pumps are now in.

Narrator: It will take victor one and a
half hours to reach titanic's depth.

Parks: As you drop,
light starts to fade,

hazy greenish at first and
then gives way to black,

black, black, until
it's pure black.

There's nothing
really much to see.

So you descend
into blackness.

Narrator: The wreck is nearly three
miles down where extreme water pressure

will push the sub and camera
technology to the very limit.

Victor: Surface lf, present
depth one one two zero

heading zero three seven
life support good.

Patrick: Roger lf, understand
your depth is one one two.

Narrator: 4k cameras have seldom filmed so
deep before and even if this one survives

the journey, what will
be left to film?

Victor: Surface lf present depth
three eight zero eight at bottom,

heading one eight zero.

Narrator: The first man dive in
nearly 15 years is underway,

to the world's most
famous ship, titanic.

Parks: If we arrive on site and the light
starts to reveal massive collapse,

either like I'm
predicting, or even worse,

I'm sure there's gonna be
an instance of regret.

Narrator: Titanic was the most
luxurious liner in the world.

When she set sail in April
1912, heading for new york,

over 2000 passengers
and crew were on board.

Four days into her maiden voyage,
she it an iceberg and sank.

Around 1500 people
lost their lives.

Parks: There's something about
this story that grips people.

The way the disaster played out, the
length of time that it played out,

allowing all these different human
dramas and different classes of people,

everybody finds something
in this disaster.

It's so varied and
so all-encompassing.

Victor: It looks like
the edge of something.

Just kind of keeps
pushing me.

Narrator: Where titanic rests
is incredibly dangerous.

Strong currents swirl around the
wreck, making it extremely difficult

for victor to reach
and film his target.

Victor: I'm hitting
a one eight zero.

I'm being very careful, I don't
wanna run into anything.

Where is it? I can't see it.

There doesn't appear
to be anything here.

I've a bad feeling
about this.

There we go.

There she is.

Oh, my gosh, I'm at the bow.
I'm at the bow of the titanic.

(music)

surface, lf has gone
to bow of titanic.

Patrick: Yeah.

Victor: Just seeing the wreck outside
the view port, wow, amazing.

Narrator: Victor can now begin
the team's next objective,

to film the wreck and collect
data, to assess its condition.

Victor: Coming up along
the side here,

I can see rust formations hanging
from the famous handrails and there,

you can see some of the
a deck square windows.

Narrator: Victor pilots the sub
along the ship's exterior.

Curtains of corrosion can be
seen enveloping port holes.

When titanic was first discovered in
1985, she was in remarkable condition

but her stern and bow were
located 600 metres apart,

having broken up on
their descent.

As victor heads past the
bow, towards the stern,

there's evidence of human
tragedy all around.

Victor: Wow, the sea floor it's littered
with debris from the ship breaking up,

as it descended through
the water column.

I can see tiles, some even intact
bottles, what looks to be crockery.

There also seems to even be a
perfectly preserved pair of trousers.

On approaching the stern, I've
got a big old sonar return.

I see you on the
sonar, girl.

Can you see this?
That's the stern.

Wow, just savaged.

Yeah, this is concerning,
there's jagged metal protruding

almost from all directions and
I can feel a strong current

pushing me towards
the wreckage sometimes.

Narrator: The dive has just
become much more dangerous.

Narrator: A deep sea sub is
investigating the wreck of titanic.

Victor: Wow, just savaged.

Narrator: At the stern, a powerful
channel of fast flowing water

now jeopardizes the
safety of the dive.

Victor: I can feel a strong current pushing
me towards the wreckage sometimes.

Narrator: After several hours
fighting dangerous conditions

victor decides it's time to
return to the surface.

Victor: Surface,
this is lf ascending.

Narrator: For the
safety of the mission.

Victor: I am exhausted.

(music)

victor: Hi.

(music) (laughs)

kelvin: Oh finally hey?
Victor: Done

bow and stern.
Kelvin: Good one. Good one.

Parks: This dive is completed,
the sub's pulled in,

but really my work
starts now.

All of the analysis work
that goes into the footage.

I've got to try and get that
done and get things identified,

so it's gonna be two
busy days for me.

Victor: In a way, it was the most
difficult dive I've ever done,

simply because of the scale and the
very strong currents and visibility.

So, it was very much diving into the unknown
and coming back with new information.

The condition of the
wreck and, you know,

what had happened in
the last ten years.

Narrator: The first dive
has been a great success,

it's revealed titanic is
continuing to decay,

but she's still in tact.

This new information is allowing the team
to begin the next phase of their mission.

A more detailed
forensic investigation.

Parks: Yeah, that's a deck promenade
and this is the b deck here,

c deck port holes here.

This is starboard side.

Oh, this is badly corroded up here,
look at that, oh, it's gone.

Victor: What's gone? Parks: Right,
look at a deck, right after

narrator: Titanic specialist,
parks, is studying the footage,

to assess the state
of the ship.

Victor: What collapsed? It's part
of the, parks: It's, the a deck.

Narrator: By comparing the footage with images
recorded after titanic was first found,

he can see the bow is still recognizable,
but the stern is showing greater break up.

Victor: The stern was absolutely
shattered on impact and so,

it is a mass of steel
and cables and fragments

and I don't think it's been properly
conveyed just how dangerous that area is

and, frankly, how
unrecognizable.

Narrator: Strong currents
swirling around and eroding metal

are partially responsible for
titanic's deterioration,

but experts think there is another reason
for the ship's uneven rate of decline.

Lori: Titanic is unique, in the fact
that it is dominated by bacteria.

Narrator: Microbial ecologist lori
johnston is one of the only people

in the world who can fully
understand what is happening.

On previous expeditions, lori
investigated an phenomenon only seen

on some of the deepest
wrecks in the world.

Titanic is teeming
with microscopic life.

Lori: Titanic obviously, had
bacteria when it went down

and they basically have
become the dominant organism.

Narrator: The bacteria thrive in areas
where metal is damaged like buckles

or fractures. It is here
that rusticles first form.

Lori: The term rusticle was sort of
coined when the titanic was found

and it looks like rust
coloured icicle.

They're very
sophisticated structures,

because they're made up of
microscopic organisms.

So when you put a rusticle
under the microscope,

the features in them
are extremely detailed.

Narrator: These organisms have adapted
to eat metal and their feed rate

looks set to intensify,
increasing the rate of decay.

Lori: The bacteria themselves
seem to be increasing,

simply because there's nothing
there that can out compete them,

and because there's so much steel there
and they're just in their glory,

taking out all of the
elements under the sea.

Narrator: This is a worrying
discovery, but there is one advantage,

the breakup allows the team to see
inside new areas of the wreck.

Elliot: I can show you how
I've put it together,

which is mainly using a process
called photogrammetry,

so we've basically reconstructed
the path of the submarine.

Parks: So, this is what victor was
looking at on his first dive.

The bow going down
the starboard side.

Ah, that's amazing.

Narrator: Creating this
scientifically accurate model

is one of the team's
core objectives.

It's allowing parks to view
titanic from all angles,

to see things in far
greater detail,

than what is possible from diving
or studying video footage.

Parks: Oh, okay rotate back around,
okay and then bring it up.

Okay, that's good, I mean,
oh, that is something else.

Narrator: Even this early in the process,
the model is allowing parks to investigate

stories from titanic in
unprecedented detail.

Parks: The way the 3d has rendered
here and has that corner, I mean,

it really feels
like the ship here.

Narrator: On the night titanic sank,
more than 2000 passengers were onboard.

The crew rushed towards
the lifeboats,

to be lowered into the water using
a small crane called the davit.

On the model parks is intrigued
by one davit, in particular.

Parks: Right in this very area, first
officer murdoch was desperately trying

to load the last lifeboat into the davit,
so that it could be launched properly.

You can see that this
davit is cranked in.

It's the only one on the wreck
that's like that. Elliot: Right.

Parks: That really supports
the account that murdoch

was trying to launch
the last lifeboat,

when he and his crew were
swept away by the water.

Narrator: The photogrammetry has provided
vital evidence of the davit's position,

proving that this lifeboat
was never launched.

Parks: I mean, I can almost
visualise the scene,

seeing it in this lighting
and at this angle. So,

that's pretty touching.

Narrator: There were just
20 lifeboats in total,

only enough for around
half the passengers.

There's another personal
story related to titanic

that has fascinated
parks for years.

It's connected to one of the
ship's most famous passengers,

benjamin guggenheim.

He was one of america's wealthiest
and most prominent businessmen,

who was said to have dressed up in his best
and prepared to go down like a gentleman.

This is what guggenheim's state
rooms would have looked like,

titanic's most opulent
living quarters.

Located on the port side at the point of
destruction, where the ship split in two.

The state rooms were torn off
and feel to the sea floor,

where they remain to
this day, undiscovered.

Now, using the sub, parks
is determined to find them.

Radio: The free boat is engaged, would
you like me to engage surfacing?

Narrator: The team is preparing
the sub for the next dive.

To locate the remains of
titanic's most opulent cabin,

where one of the ship's
most famous passengers,

benjamin guggenheim,
spent his final days.

Sindbad: I'm the only
member of my family,

going back to where my great
great grandfather last stood.

So, there is something quite powerful about
that, I guess, and kind of getting closer

to the rest of the family and
maybe paying one last homage.

Narrator: Sindbad is benjamin
guggenheim's great great grandson.

He's joined the expedition, to
discover more about the final hours

of his ill-fated relative.

Parks: Now, these are the decks,
they're laying on top of each other,

what you're seeing are the ribs that
support the underside of the decks

and then it appears to be
shell plating underneath.

Narrator: Previous expeditions
revealed an image that parks thinks

could be guggenheim's
missing state rooms.

He wants to dive down on the
wreck, to investigate further.

Victor: Well, parks is one of the world's
leading historians on the titanic

and he's the kind of individual that
can look at a piece of wreckage

and identify where it was on the
ship and why it's interesting.

Parks: Each piece, its position,
its condition, tells a story.

Narrator: Parks also wants to record
high resolution footage of some specific

features on the bow, to add
to the photogrammetry model.

Once again, victor
will pilot the sub.

Parks will join
him to observe.

Parks: I feel the need
to go down there myself,

owe it to those who
perished in the disaster,

to maybe step out of the
comfort zone a little bit,

take an acceptable amount of risk
and experience it for myself.

Narrator: The sub will dive to the
wreck site, travel over the bow,

then out across the debris field, searching
for the mysterious piece of metal.

Patrick: Here comes the water,
cap's on, are you ready?

Radio: Yeah, roger that,
my hatch is secure.

Patrick: Roger that,
hatch secure. Here we go.

Just gonna put a little
bit more on here.

Narrator: If parks's
theory is correct,

it'll be an incredible discovery
connecting a family across generations.

Patrick: Clear to go
ahead and start pumping.

There goes the swimmer.

Radio: Lf.

Victor: This is
the lf, go ahead.

Kelvin: You're clear
to circle.

Victor: Roger that, the swimmer
is clear, I have armed thrusters.

We're beginning to
pump in now.

Narrator: The sub
begins its long descent.

Benjamin guggenheim was born into a wealthy
mining family in philadelphia in 1865.

He was 47 years old, when
titanic sank leaving behind

a wife and three young
daughters.

Victor: Surface lf, depth three eight
zero five heading three one zero,

life support good,
wreck on sonar.

Patrick: Roger that lf, understand,
three eight zero five metres heading

three one zero degrees
with life support good

and wreck on sonar.
Congratulations.

Narrator: The sub has
reached the wreck site.

Victor: Ha, it's murky.

You can look down there and see pretty
well. Parks: I can see it, yeah.

Victor: Actually, the
visibility's better looking down.

Parks: It is. Victor:
There's the marconi room,

one of the windows, one of the skylights.
Parks: Lets see here.

Narrator: Before searching for the
remains of the guggenheim state rooms,

the team films additional footage of other
important features, for later analysis,

including the area around
the captain's quarters.

Parks: Okay, I can barely see it, I can
barely see it, yeah, it's devastated.

I see a glimpse of the tub.

Narrator: Next, the team turns their attention
to the search for guggenheim's state rooms.

The debris field is 15
square miles in size.

Finding a single piece of metal is like
trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Victor: Is this
the bigger piece?

Parks: No, it's not the bigger piece.
Victor: What is this?

Parks: I don't think
it's guggenheim either.

Narrator: Parks is searching for specific
structural features that coincide

with the state room's
location aboard the ship.

This is key to confirming the identify
of the mystery object in the image.

Victor: Getting close to something
up there on the left. 40 meters.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, eyes
out, eyes out, eyes out.

Parks: Okay.

Victor: This might be the guggenheim
piece, you see all that ribbing?

Parks: Yeah. This might
be the guggenheim piece.

Victor: I'm gonna
translate more.

Parks: Please translate
left, yes, please.

Yeah here we go,
this is it.

This is it, this is guggenheim's
state room, right here.

-Right along here.
Victor: Found it.

Parks: That's his
state room right there.

That's guggenheim.

Victor: Good job.
Teamwork.

Surface lf, present depth, three eight zero
two, life support good, at guggenheim.

Radio: Roger, lf,
at guggenheim.

Congratulations.

Urn off the flow.

Narrator: The search is over for the remains
of benjamin guggenheim's state rooms.

Sindbad: I can't
believe you found it.

Parks: The odds of this were astronomical,
but it just so happened in this case,

your great great grandfather's
state room was situated in an area

that had identifiable features,
yes, the odds were astronomical.

Sindbad: That chaos is
really what's for me,

really, the most traumatising,
I think, you know,

when you're there, when you see this and
everything, it's just very powerful.

Parks: One thing it does
show, that at the end,

it did not matter what class you
were from, they all died equally.

Sindbad: Exactly, yeah.
Absolutely.

Parks: In those rare instances where
we can provide identification

of a piece to a descendant
of someone who perished,

I think it's very much
appreciated.

Sindbad: We all like to remember those
like fairy tales of him dressed

in his best, as he sank, sipping
brandy and just going down heroically,

I guess, but, yeah,
what I'm seeing here,

like the crushed metal and
everything is just showing me

a very different reality.

Narrator: Finding guggenheim's
state rooms allows the team to add

another crucial part to
their photogrammetry model.

Elliot: And then we're
coming up now to the top.

Parks: Okay, there's the
overhang from a deck.

Narrator: Additional data from the most
recent dive has now been added to the model.

It's allowing parks to understand other
areas of titanic in far more detail.

Parks: It took us a
while to recognise this.

Narrator: Including the cabin
of captain edward john smith,

who famously went
down with his ship.

When titanic was
rediscovered in 1985,

the contents of captain smith's
bathroom were revealed to be largely

intact, including
his private bathtub.

It's a tiny, but very tangible detail
of the lives of individuals who lived

and worked aboard the ship.

So parks wants to
see how it's faring.

Parks: This entire overhead has now
collapsed, since we last saw it,

only a small sliver of the
captain's bath tub remains.

This collapse was exactly the kind of
failure that we were expecting to find

and I expect this kind of
collapse is gonna continue

in various areas around the
wreck, in the years to come.

Narrator: The captain's quarters
have lost their battle with decay.

Next, parks turns his attention
to another area of the ship,

that's of great interest,
the marconi room.

As the biggest and
best ship of her day,

titanic contained state
of the art technology,

including the famous
marconi radio transmitter.

The set aboard titanic was among
the first of its kind ever built.

It was housed in the marconi
room, located on the boat deck,

between the first
and second funnels.

The transmitter was used to receive warnings
of icebergs and send distress messages,

something ships hadn't been able to
do until the end of the 19th century.

Parks: My biggest fear is
my favourite part of wreck,

the marconi wireless
telegraph room,

is gone and any hope of recovering
that transmitting apparatus

and restoring it is no
longer a possibility.

Narrator: On a previous expedition,
parks saw the marconi room

and its contents were
in good condition

now he wants to view its
current state in detail,

as he couldn't see it clearly
during his dive with victor.

Parks: I wanna go in here, I wanna see
what that is, I wanna get in here.

I can actually see rusticles
hanging down inside,

so that indicates there's
a whole space in here.

Narrator: Parks is hoping the
photogrammetry will allow him

to see the marconi room
in far greater detail.

Parks: The area that I'm interested
in is right in this area right here.

Now, your data set
falls off here,

but these holes right here
are of special concern to me,

because this looks like the beginning
of,now, now, pull out a little bit.

Elliot: Sure.

Narrator: The three dimensional
photogrammetry is revealing

a new depression in the
roof of the marconi room.

Parks: It's gonna continue to fall
and next time we come out here,

there's gonna be a new
hole next to that one.

Oh, we are definitely in
a race against time here.

Narrator: An investigation into the condition
of titanic is revealing a mixed picture.

Some of the wreck's
features have deteriorated.

Parks: I see a glimpse of the tub, I can
barely see it and yeah, it's devastated.

Narrator: Whilst others
have barely changed.

Parks: Overall. The wreck seems to
be holding up surprisingly well.

There are some areas
of concern,

advanced deterioration and we're gonna
to be assessing those going forward,

to try and get better
predictions on how much longer

the wreck will be with us.

Rob: We wanted to take this
moment, to remember those

that have perished the
night that titanic sank.

Narrator: As the expedition
enters its final stages,

the team is honouring
titanic's victims.

Rob: And we'll take
a moment's silence.

Narrator: With the ceremony complete,
the team prepares for their next dive.

Rob: It's a good opportunity
to think about the site itself

and to start planning
the dive.

I wanted to go beyond the dive, to
talk about a science programme,

about the permanent
conditions.

Narrator: The dive will help the team
understand and predict titanic's future.

Rob: They've taken a number
of different types of metal

and then they've subjected them
to different kinds of activity.

Some of them have been subject to
torsion, some of them have been heat

treated with a welder,
some have been riveted.

So, they're trying to replicate
all the different kinds of metal

that you might find on a
ship and then subjecting it

to the sort of forces that a
ship in distress might suffer.

Narrator: The team wants to place the
data platform next to the wreck.

It's a non-invasive, but
scientific way to record decline.

The platform is made of
steel, just like titanic.

Lori: The bacteria will start
populating that steel source,

so then we can bring that up
after x number of years,

it's considered a long term
experiment, and analyse it,

to again correlate that back to the
deterioration rate of the wreck.

Victor: You can see the very obvious
manipulator arm, that's very powerful,

but it can function all the
way down to full ocean depth.

Narrator: The sub's
manipulator arm will be used

to place the steel platform
on the sea floor,

but doing this,
three miles down,

in the dark and with strong
currents, won't be easy.

Kelvin: It'll be a challenge, there's no doubt
about it, but I'm up for the challenge.

Victor: Good luck, guys.
Kelvin: Thanks, victor.

Narrator: Kelvin is going to be
operating the manipulator arm.

And for this dive, patrick
is piloting the sub.

Patrick: You got her?
Kelvin: Yep.

Bring this bad boy down.

Narrator: The sub will be supported
by a remotely controlled lander,

that will safely transport the
data platform to the sea floor.

Radio: You've got three swimmers
below, you can start to pump and dive.

Patrick: Roger that. Turning
pumps on now. Okay?

Kelvin: Yep.
Patrick: Okay.

Narrator: Having arrived at the wreck, the
team prepares to release the platform.

But, at this step just the simplest of
actions is fraught with difficulty.

Patrick: Looking good.

Narrator: The next task is to drop
the platform in a safe place,

as close to the wreck as possible,
so rusticles can latch on.

Kelvin: Yeah, so bring it
down to the ground here.

Patrick: Got close enough?
Looks pretty close.

Kelvin: Here, let me
get the arm going again.

Yeah, yeah, yep

(laughs)

narrator: When the platform is
retrieved in years to come,

on a new expedition,
the rusticles captured

will be vital in predicting
titanic's future.

The team's mission is complete
and the first manned dives

to titanic in nearly 15
years have come to an end.

(laughs)

patrick: Thanks very much,
frank, for getting us back.

(music)

narrator: The expedition has
led to the creation of the

the most accurate photogrammetry
model of the wreck ever built.

Titanic, as no one
has seen her before.

And now she's beginning a new
life as an artificial reef.

Home to an abundant and diverse
array of marine creatures.

Lori: Honestly, there's
more life on titanic now,

than there was when she was
floating on the surface.

Narrator: But, in time, as
titanic's decline continues,

she will become
unrecognisable.

Lori: There's lots of
varying opinions on titanic.

Is there any way that
we can preserve it?

But, I sometimes feel that people miss
the point of the recycling aspect.

This is a natural process.

It was built through iron ore and the earth
is reclaiming that iron ore from titanic.

Parks: It's a shipwreck
that's returning to nature,

but that doesn't mean that we're
done exploring titanic yet.

This deterioration has now
opened up new possibilities

to learn more
about the wreck.

We went down there to look,
to document, and to assess.

The results of this expedition
wildly exceeded our expectations.

(music)

captioned by subtitlepro llc