Something Is Eating Titanic from Within

Bright Side

Did you know something is actually eating the Titanic from within? It's true, and it's a fascinating story you won't want to miss. Dive into our latest piece to uncover the mysterious forces at work. Get ready for some surprising discoveries about one of the world's most famous shipwrecks. Check it out and join the adventure!  Credit: Expl1902: By Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats Expedition 2003; NOAA/OAR/OER. - https://flic.kr/p/9gpFty, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17917507 Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Wow, poor Titanic just can't get a break.

00:04After being destroyed once, now it's going through its second crumbling – on the seafloor.

00:10Experts think there will be no sign of it left by 2050.

00:14Recently scientists organized a new expedition to Titanic.

00:17The thrilling journeys happened in 2021 and 2022.

00:21They studied the wreck's archaeology, mapped it, and took an incredible 8,000 images.

00:27They discovered that oceanic forces were consuming Titanic much faster than many other

00:32ships.

00:33Meanwhile, there are some ships that have been lying underwater for centuries, and they're

00:38okay.

00:39So why is that?

00:41First, like any other shipwreck, Titanic is slowly succumbing to pressure and seawater.

00:48Parts of the promenade deck already collapsed.

00:51Captain Smith's bathtub is filled with debris because the roof fell on it.

00:55The officer's quarter door started to disintegrate as well.

00:58The bow is still holding on, buried 60 feet into the mud, just like 25 years ago.

01:04But it will also face an inevitable fate one day.

01:08Certain structures on the ship could last much longer, maybe for hundreds of years.

01:12For example, the thick boilers and reciprocating engines.

01:16But lighter elements like railings and wood are doomed.

01:20One of the biggest things that can crazily speed up the decay are hungry microbes.

01:24The Titanic is being eaten away.

01:28It turns out the Titanic has its own specific type of bacteria, called Halomonas titanicae,

01:34and yes, it's literally named after the ship.

01:37This type was discovered in rusticles, that's what you call the rust formations that resemble

01:41icicles.

01:42They were snacking on the hull of the Titanic, and scientists first stumbled upon them in

01:472010 during a wreck expedition.

01:50These little guys slowly eat away at the steel.

01:52They stick to the steel surfaces, causing knob-like mounds of rust to form.

01:57These mounds cover the wreck of the Titanic, and the porous rusticles then dissolve into

02:01fine powder.

02:02It's like they're trying to turn the ship into dust.

02:06Add the immense water pressure, super-cold temperatures, and salt, hence the fast decay.

02:14But bacteria isn't the only problem.

02:16There are two main things that determine how long a shipwreck might last after sinking.

02:21The first one is oxygen, or rather, the lack of it.

02:25As you go lower and lower in the ocean, the oxygen levels drop significantly.

02:29Surprisingly, this really slows down the decay process.

02:33Oxygen is very important for life, and if there's none, many organisms just simply

02:38don't do well there.

02:40Also some chemical decay processes, like iron rusting, require oxygen.

02:44That's why ships that sank in shallower, oxygen-rich waters usually deteriorate much

02:49faster.

02:50The Titanic did lie in an area with low oxygen levels, and initially, this helped to preserve

02:56its structure better.

02:57But then it adopted its own type of bacteria like a pet.

03:01It turns out that this bacterium loves low oxygen conditions.

03:05Who would've thought?

03:06There's an interesting reason for that.

03:11Most ships throughout history, both above and below the water, were made of wood.

03:16This changed in the 1840s when the Industrial Revolution hit.

03:21People started making ships out of metals, mostly iron and steel, like Titanic.

03:25Finally, they started getting bigger and stronger.

03:28Aside from the Titanic, there was also the Lusitania and other luxury ocean liners.

03:33At first sight, metal ships are much better.

03:35They outlast the wooden ships even underwater.

03:38Even though they rust away, they still last tens of times longer than the wooden ships.

03:43Decomposing wood is like a feast for animals and microbes searching for organic matter

03:47to gobble up.

03:49As soon as the wooden ship sinks, they start breaking it down almost immediately.

03:54One of the most annoying things was the shipworms.

03:57They were named that because they kept eating and burrowing holes in wooden ships.

04:02These worms can completely break the wreck down in just two years.

04:08Of course, this isn't a problem for metal ships, since steel and iron are super hard

04:13to digest.

04:14So they last a while if they sink in shallow and warm waters, not afraid of the oxygen.

04:19But interestingly, this also works the other way around.

04:23Metal ships feel bad in deep, cold waters.

04:26A wooden ship, if sunken very deep, would be relatively fine because no critters munch

04:31on it.

04:32For example, there are at least 60 known ancient shipwrecks in the Black Sea.

04:37Some of them made back in ancient Greece, and they're completely fine.

04:41You can literally read the engravings in their planks.

04:44One of them is a Greek merchant ship that dates back to more than 2,040 years ago.

04:49The rudder, rowing benches, and even the contents of its hold remain perfectly preserved.

04:55Now it's known as the oldest intact shipwreck.

04:58But in deep, cold waters, microbes, like that that gobble on Titanic, run on iron.

05:04Usually they got this iron from geologic vents on the seafloor, like underwater volcanoes

05:09and stuff.

05:10But now they also have humans to support their food supply.

05:16All this gives us the second crucial factor of decay – materials.

05:21Organic materials are the clear losers, especially when exposed to the open ocean.

05:26Not just because of the microbes, but also because they're much more delicate than

05:29those of ceramic, glass, stone, or metallic origin.

05:33For organic matter to survive, being buried is often the best bet.

05:38The thing is, fossils that are buried underground are well-protected from oxygen and bacteria

05:43that contribute the most to the decay.

05:46Take for example the Mary Rhodes, a Tudor ship that sank in the 16th century near England.

05:52Many of its wooden structures and artifacts were well-preserved, all thanks to being buried

05:56in mud.

05:58Or the Ship of Gold.

05:59This ship sank off the coast of Northern California in 1857.

06:03It had a wealth of treasures on it, hence the name.

06:07In 1991, a couple of divers stumbled upon a crazy find – a pair of work pants from

06:12this ship.

06:13The pants are 150 years old, but they survived because they were in a buried and sealed leather

06:19chest on the Ship of Gold, so no oxygen or microbes could reach it.

06:24The owner of the pants, John Demmott, survived the wreck back in the day, but all his gear

06:29sank.

06:30The recovered pants fetched over $100,000 at auction in 2022.

06:36But even though the Titanic will completely decay, perhaps by 2050, it will have an interesting

06:42fate.

06:43As mentioned, these shipwrecks rest on some crazy depths, between 9,800 and 20,000 feet.

06:50There lies the Abyssal Plain, one of the flattest, most depressingly desolate places on Earth.

06:56It's an endless expanse of muddy seafloor.

06:59Occasionally you can find some rocks and boulders here and there.

07:02They were once picked up by drifting glaciers.

07:05Boulders cave into icebergs, like those that caused the catastrophe, and the icebergs drop

07:10these rocks on the seafloor as they melt.

07:14Places like this are scary to humans, but for tiny marine life, they're awesome.

07:19This vast, quiet area is home to burrowing worms and other tiny creatures.

07:24And one of their favorite places to thrive in are occasional shipwrecks.

07:28The Titanic will become their home, a so-called artificial reef.

07:33Even after the decay, its structure will provide a substrate for marine life, like

07:38a building framework.

07:39Such artificial reefs create little unexpected pockets of life in underwater deserts.

07:45Coral loves to grow on wrecks, and this creates some structure for little critters to hide

07:50and nestle in.

07:51The Titanic is already transforming into a vibrant place full of corals and small animals.

07:57The images show an amazing variety of life – shrimp, squat lobsters, and even curious

08:02rat-tail fish cruising around the site.

08:05As a reef, the Titanic will continue to thrive for centuries to come.

08:11The researchers are excited about revisiting the Titanic in the future.

08:15They'll use advanced sonar and laser scanning technology to survey the wreck site and capture

08:20some high-quality photos for a better understanding of the Titanic's condition.

08:25They're also curious about how coral grows on shipwrecks compared to other underwater

08:30features, such as volcanic reefs.

08:33All this will be helpful for marine biology and the shipbuilding industry.

08:38That's it for today!

08:41So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:46friends!

08:47Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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