Original subtitles

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.

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'shappened to her.

There could be a couple of major portions of the Titanic

that might have collapsed.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

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

Okay, good to go.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Good to go.

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

Let's send this bad boy to the bottom.

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

Okay, Tom, last check.

TOM: (ON RADIO) Roger that.

NARRATOR: ...and preserve Titanic for future generations...

-STUART: Two minutes. -MAN: Two minutes.

NARRATOR: ...before it's too late.

Let's go back to Titanic.

MAN: Prepare to dive. Prepare to dive.

MAN: Pressure Drop, all stations bridge.

ETA over the wreck is approximately 10 minutes from now.

NARRATOR: The team is arriving at the Titanic wreck site.

The ship lies three miles down in the icy depths of the north Atlantic ocean.

Okay, so, welcome, everyone.

We wanted to meet this afternoon

to go over the dive plans for the next two days, uh,

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.

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 very 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.

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.

I've always seen the wreck as truly

the last surviving witness to the disaster,

almost like a crime scene.

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.

NARRATOR: Microbial ecologist Lori Johnston

is another key member of the team.

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

From '98, I was able to dive on Titanic, uh, six different times.

Uh, the last time I personally saw it was 2005.

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

Okay, Roger that, can you confirm the connectors?

(INAUDIBLE RADIO CHATTER)

MAN: Okay, roger that.

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.

Okay, Tom, last check, we're gonna just have Tim,

or maybe you can just secure your own hatch.

TOM: Roger that. Securing hatch now.

NARRATOR: When Victor isn't piloting the sub, Patrick Lahey will be.

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.

-Good. -MAN: 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.

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.

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, uh, it's inherently unstable,

and she lies across the current,

uh, which is running up to two knots at a time.

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.

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, uh, tomorrow morning.

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

to dive to the most famous ship in history.

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.

(MEN TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

NARRATOR: 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 for the... 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. -VICTOR: Yeah, I agree.

And 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 and announce it to everybody.

-Okay, good to go. -MAN 1: Good to go.

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

MAN 2: Setting five minutes.

Five minutes, okey-doke.

(RADIO CHATTER)

NARRATOR: The dive is on.

(CHUCKLES) We're going to the Titanic.

Weather's not bad.

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

but it's laid down a bit,

so I'm comfortable with this,

we can launch in this. Let's send this bad boy to the bottom.

NARRATOR: This will be the first ever solo dive to Titanic.

-STUART: Two minutes. -MAN: Two minutes.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

MAN: Good luck, Victor. Say hello to the old girl.

I will. Let's go back to Titanic.

MAN: (ON 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.

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.

Surface, LF, present depth one one two zero,

heading zero three seven, life support good.

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?

Surface, LF, present depth

three eight zero eight at bottom,

heading one eight zero.

NARRATOR: The first manned 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 2,000 passengers and crew were on board.

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

Around 1,500 people lost their lives.

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.

This current 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 heading one eight zero.

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

Where is it? I can't see it.

(SIGHS) There doesn't appear to be anything here.

I have 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.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Surface, LF has gone to bow of Titanic.

Bow of Titanic.

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 envelopingport holes.

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

but her stern and bow were located 600 meters 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 is just...

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.

I think I'm 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.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

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...

Surface, this is LF ascending.

...for the safety of the mission.

VICTOR: I am exhausted.

-(KELVIN CHUCKLES) -VICTOR: Hi.

(LAUGHS)

-KELVIN: Oh, finally, eh? -VICTOR: Titanic, done.

-Bow and stern. -KELVIN: Good one. Good one.

PARKS: The dive is completed, the sub's pulled in,

but really my work starts now.

Uh, all of the analysis work that goes into the footage,

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

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

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, uh, coming back with new information.

The condition of the wreck and, uh, you know,

what had happened in the last 10 years.

NARRATOR: The first dive has been a great success,

it's revealed Titanic is continuing to decay,

but she's still intact.

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

a more detailed forensic investigation.

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? -Right, look at A deck, right after...

NARRATOR: Titanic specialist Parks is studying the footage

to assess the state of the ship.

-What collapsed? It's part of the... -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.

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 a phenomenon

only seen on some of the deepest wrecks in the world.

Titanic is teeming with microscopic life.

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.

The term "rusticle" was sort of coined when the Titanic was found,

and it looks like rust-colored 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, um, 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 studyingvideo footage.

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

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

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...

-ELLIOT: Yeah. -...you really...

I mean, it really feels like the ship here.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

NARRATOR: On the night Titanic sank, more than 2,000 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.

Right in this very area,

uh, 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: Um, 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.

This really... I mean, I can almost visualize the scene,

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

That's just... That's, um... That's pretty, uh, 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 mostfamous 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 fell to the sea floor,

where they remain to this day, undiscovered.

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

ROB: 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.

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.

-Now, these are the decks... -Oh, I see.

...they're laying on top of each other, what you're seeing are the ribs

that support the underside of the decks...

-Right. -...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.

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.

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.

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, um, 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?

TOM: Yeah, Roger that,my hatch is secure.

Roger that, hatch secure. Here we go.

Roger that. I'm just gonna put a little bit more on here.

NARRATOR: If Parks' 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.

KELVIN: LF. LF.

This is the LF, go ahead.

You're clear to, uh, start pumping.

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.

Surface, LF, depth three eight zero five, heading three one zero,

life support good, wreck on sonar.

Roger that, LF, understand, uh, three eight zero five meters,

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: The visibility is better looking down.

-It is. (LAUGHS) -There's the Marconi room,

-one of the windows, one of the skylights. -Let's 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. -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.

We're getting close to something up there on the left.

-PARKS: Yep. -40 meters.

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

PARKS: Okay.

This might be the Guggenheim piece.

-You see all that ribbing? -Yeah.

This might be the Guggenheim piece.

-VICTOR: I'm gonna translate left. -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. -Found it.

PARKS: That's the state room right there.

That's Guggenheim.

Good job. Teamwork. (LAUGHS)

Surface to LF, present depth three eight zero two,

life support good, at Guggenheim.

ROB: Roger, LF, at Guggenheim.

Congratulations.

ROB: Turn off the flow.

KELVIN: Roger that.

NARRATOR: The search is over for the remains

of Benjamin Guggenheim's state rooms.

I can't believe you found it.

The odds of this were astronomical,

but, um, it just so happened in this case,

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

that had identifiable features, um...

(CHUCKLES) Yes, the odds were astronomical.

That... That chaos is really what's, uh, for me,

uh, really, the most traumatizing, I think, you know,

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

It's just very powerful.

One thing it does show, that at the end,

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

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.

We all like to remember those, like, fairy tales of him,

uh, dressed in his best, as he said,

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.

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

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...

It took us a while to recognize this.

...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.

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, uh, 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.

PARKS: You can see...

NARRATOR: 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.

My biggest fear is my favorite part of the wreck,

the Marconi wireless telegraph room,

is gone and any hope of recovering that transmitting apparatus and restoring it

is no longer... 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.

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

-Now, your data set falls off here... -ELLIOT: Yeah.

...but, um, 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 there's gonna be... And next time we come out here,

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

(SIGHS) 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...

-VICTOR: I see a glimpse of the tub. -PARKS: Yeah.

VICTOR: I can barely see it, and, yeah, it's devastated.

...whilst others have barely changed.

Overall, the wreck seems to be holding up surprisingly well.

There are some areas of concern, advanced deterioration,

and, uh, we're going to be assessing those going forward,

uh, 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, uh, perished the night that Titanic sank.

NARRATOR: As the expedition enters its final stages,

the team is honoring Titanic's victims.

And, um, we'll take a moment's silence.

NARRATOR: With the ceremony complete, the team preparesfor 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, uh, to talk about a science program

about the permanent conditions.

NARRATOR: The dive will help the team understand andpredict Titanic's future.

ROB: They've taken a number of different types of metal,

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

Some of them have been subject to torsion,

uh, some of them have been heat-treated with a welder,

some have been riveted.

Some... 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 platformnext to the wreck.

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

The platform is made of steel, just like Titanic.

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 analyze it to, again, correlate that

back to the deterioration rate of the wreck.

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, 3 miles down, in the dark

and with strong currents,won't be easy.

It'll be a challenge, there's no doubt about it,

but, um, 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, Patrickis piloting the sub.

-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 thesea floor.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) You've got three swimmers below,

you can start to pump and dive.

Roger that. Turning pumps on now. Okay?

-KELVIN: Yep. -PATRICK: Okay.

(PUMP WHIRRING)

NARRATOR: Having arrived at the wreck, the team preparesto release the platform.

But, at this depth, just the simplest of actions isfraught with difficulty.

PATRICK: Looking good.

NARRATOR: The next task is to drop the platformin a safe place,

as close to the wreck as possible sorusticles can latch on.

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

Is that close enough?

Looks pretty close.

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

Yeah, yeah. Yep.

-(LAUGHS) -How about that?

NARRATOR: When the platform is retrievedin years to come,

on a new expedition, the rusticles captured

will be vital in predicting Titanic's future.

(KELVIN LAUGHS)

NARRATOR: The team's mission is complete, and the first manned dives to Titanic

in nearly 15 years have come to an end.

(LAUGHS)

Thanks very much, Frank, for getting us back.

NARRATOR: The expedition has led to the creation of 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 anartificial reef.

Home to an abundant and diverse array ofmarine creatures.

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 becomeunrecognizable.

There's lots of varying opinions on Titanic.

Is there any way thatwe 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,

uh, 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.