00:00Over 1,500 people lost their lives in this part of the ocean, so maybe it's a prudent idea to
00:11stay away from it. The spot where RMS Titanic sank remains dangerous. I mean, yeah, there are still
00:18huge icebergs out there, but there are even bigger threats lurking beneath the surface.
00:23Titanic is sitting about 12,500 feet underwater, nearly 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland.
00:31It's been down there for over 100 years, so over time, the wreck's just been falling apart
00:36little by little. The infamous ship is rusting just like any iron or steel structure would be
00:43underwater. Chemically, when you mix iron, oxygen, and water, that combo sets off a reaction that
00:50creates iron oxide. And that's what leads to corrosion. So, steel plates, beams, all that stuff
00:56is getting weaker. Parts of the liner are caving in, like the ceiling in the captain's bathroom
01:02and a section of the railing that collapsed not too long ago. But in the case of Titanic,
01:08a lot of that corrosion is actually being caused by iron-eating bacteria. When the Titanic sank,
01:14it's split into two big pieces, the bow and the stern, which landed nearly 2,000 feet apart
01:21on the ocean floor. And now, both pieces are covered in this biofilm, a living blanket of
01:27bacteria, marine fungi, and all sorts of other microbes. Over time, microbes feeding on the
01:34ship's iron have created these things called rusticles, and they are actually speeding up
01:39the wrecks' decay. Scientists say the stern is breaking down way faster than the bow, mostly
01:45because it took more damage when the ship sank. And now, thanks to all that bacterial activity,
01:51the stern could be deteriorating as much as 40 years ahead of the bow.
01:57So yeah, microbes have been thriving and flourishing down there. If you are a germaphobe, that probably
02:03sounds like a total nightmare. But honestly, it's not that bad. For one, they don't even look
02:09gross. These rusticles actually look kind of cool, like ice crystals or tiny diamonds clinging
02:15to the wreck. And don't worry, you are not in danger. As long as you keep a safe distance
02:22from the wreck, no direct contact, and definitely don't go poking around inside, there really
02:27is no risk. Speaking of getting dangerously close, we've got to mention the Titan submersible
02:34disaster. You know, the one that catastrophically imploded back in 2023 during a trip to the
02:40Titanic wreck. Sadly, all five people on board lost their lives. Even though this trip was sold as a
02:47tourist adventure, going that deep in the ocean is no joke. It's terrifying, cold, and dark.
02:54Sunlight gets absorbed by water and can't reach much farther than about 3,300 feet below the surface.
03:00Past that point, the ocean is in total darkness all the time.
03:06Titanic lies within a region known as the Midnight Zone for this very reason. The few brave people who
03:13have visited the wreck say the descent takes over two hours through complete darkness. Then, out of
03:19nowhere, the ocean floor just pops into view, lit up by the submersible's lights. The second big challenge
03:26is actually finding the wreck. At that depth, navigating is no easy task. When you reach the
03:33bottom, you really don't know exactly where you are. You're just kind of fumbling around in the dark,
03:39knowing that Titanic is somewhere down there, but you can't see it.
03:43However, detailed maps of the Titanic site made from decades of high-res scans really do help. As the wreck
03:51starts to come into view, they can use those maps to stay on track. Plus, sonar and sensors let the
03:57crew notice features and objects, even if they're way beyond the sub's tiny light pool.
04:03For example, the Titan submersible had a sensor called the Doppler velocity log.
04:08This one sent out sound waves to measure how fast the sub is moving and how deep it is,
04:14based on its distance from the ocean floor. Still, passengers on previous trips to Titanic
04:19in this submersible have said how tough it is to find their way once they reach the ocean floor.
04:27And we can't forget about the pressure. The deeper you go in the ocean, the more pressure the water
04:32puts on everything. And the pressure is crazy high at the Titanic's wreck site. To put it into perspective,
04:39it is about 200 times the pressure inside a car tire. That's why submersibles need super-thick
04:46walls to handle it. So yeah, the water around Titanic has creepy microbes, pitch-black darkness,
04:53and insane pressure. But there is one more thing happening down there, and that's unpredictable currents.
05:00You're familiar with them. I mean, when you swim in the sea, you can usually feel the currents pulling
05:05you from side to side. But the deep ocean has its own set of underwater currents, too.
05:11They're not as strong as the ones you feel on the surface, but they can still move massive amounts
05:16of water around. These currents can be caused by things like wind, differences in water temperature,
05:23and salt, and even strange storms down on the ocean floor called benthic storms. They can get intense
05:30and stir up the sea bottom. Now, like I mentioned earlier, the Titanic wreck is in two big pieces,
05:36the front and the back. And researchers have been checking out the seabed of the surrounding area.
05:42One part of the wreck is near this cold underwater current called the Western Boundary Undercurrent.
05:49It flows south and moves mud and sand along the ocean floor, creating ripples and patterns
05:54that show how strong or weak the current is. Most of the time, the currents there aren't very strong.
06:01They even found sand ripples near where all the Titanic debris landed, like furniture, coal,
06:07and just random stuff from the ship. And those ripples are showing a current flowing from east to
06:13west. But inside the main wreck site, things get a little wilder. The water flows more from northwest to
06:20southwest, probably because all the huge chunks of the ship are messing with the flow.
06:26Around the south side of Titanic's bow, the currents get unpredictable too. They keep switching directions,
06:33from northeast to northwest to even southwest. It's like the ocean's just doing its own thing down
06:39there. Experts think that, over time, all this shifting water is going to slowly bury Titanic
06:46under layers of mud and sand. Little by little, the wreck could just fade away and disappear beneath
06:53the ocean floor. Alright, now it's time to get to the obvious issue here. Icebergs. Yep,
07:00there's still a problem for ships today. In 2023, around 380 icebergs flowed into the busy shipping routes
07:08between North America and Europe. That's a problem. You see, the bigger the iceberg,
07:13the easier it is to spot and avoid. Smaller ice is a lot harder to detect, though it's no less
07:20dangerous. And that's because the most dangerous part is underwater, where no one can see it.
07:27Think about the iceberg that sank Titanic. Passengers saw about 100 feet of it above the water,
07:33but it's believed that's only 16% of its total size. Experts say the rest, hidden beneath the waves and much
07:41larger than what's visible, could stretch down several hundred feet. Now, the good news is that,
07:47unlike Titanic's day, we have much more technology now to spot icebergs in time. Modern ships have
07:54radar and satellite imagery that can pick up icy threats hiding in the dark. Some vessels even use
08:01sonar and thermal imaging to see through fog, helping the crew to spot icebergs above the surface.
08:07GPS and AIS pick safer routes. And monitoring centers around the globe send out real-time alerts,
08:15like having a personal iceberg spotting assistant. So, yes, it is a massive upgrade from just relying
08:22on binoculars. You won't have to worry about icebergs on your next cruise vacation, even if
08:28it passes alongside Titanic's route. But just to be extra safe, try not to travel with anyone named
08:35Jack or Rose. And never, never play the violin while on board. Just saying.
08:42That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share
08:47it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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