A General History of the Titanic
On April 10th, 1912, the Royal Mail Ship, known as the Titanic embarked on an unforgettable journey from Southampton, England to New York City, America. A few days later, on April 14th, 1912, the luxury vessel hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sunk in around 3 hours, taking the lives of approximately 1500 people, leaving only 700 passengers to survive. The ship had an estimated construction cost of $7.5 million. In 1912, there was an abundance of iceberg formations in the North Atlantic shipping lane, which could not have been predicted by the well-experienced ship captain, Edward Smith, who had been sailing for over 26 years. However, the ship was not well-equipped for the safety of passengers, resulting in the losses of multiple lives (CNN, 2018). In 1914, 2 years after the latter maritime disaster, “The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea” (SOLAS Convention), was formed. This treaty involved a set of rules, that must be followed by all merchant ships for their safety (International Maritime Organisation, 2018).
The ship was lost and later discovered in 1985, by marine explorer Dr. Robert Ballard. This was discovered by accident, since Dr. Ballard was actually looking for 2 nuclear submarines, lost in the Cold War. Twenty years after the Titanic’s discovery in 1985, he returned with a research team to map the wreckage, using remote operated vehicles. This was done using a “look don’t touch” approach, in order to respect the memorial (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, N.A.). Over the years, several dives have been carried out and each visit has proven to be a worthy trip for the scientific community, since each dive has proven to be essential, in the discovery of new species (Bright, 2011).
Marine life Inhabiting the Titanic Wreckage
The Titanic wreckage may only be around for a few years, due to a recently discovered, rust-eating bacterium, which were collected from rusticles (rust collections similar to icicles). This bacterium was named Halomonas titanicae and it is a Gram-negative, aerobic, heterotrophic, flagellated and motile bacterium, which was specifically isolated on the Titanic’s resting site (Sanchez-Porro et al. 2010). This bacterium was present along with 27 other strains of bacteria and archaea, which have resulted in the degradation of the Titanic. Most of these bacteria emerged from the hydrothermal vents, close to the shipwreck. The rusticles form from the accumulation of H. titanicae bacteria, which allow the entry of water and are resulting in the sunken vessels disintegration. This bacterium has been studied, and it was concluded that even though it is a destructive species, it may still be used to accelerate the disposal of oil rigs and older ships, as well as for the development of protective coatings, used on working vessels against other bacteria (Live Science, 2018). The rusticles are also made up of numerous amounts of biocolloids and other marine creatures, that float down through the water column, this is known as “sea snow” (Ware, 2002).
Other species such as sulfate-reducing bacteria, were also found along with numerous fungi on the outer parts of the sunken vessel. However, several studies carried out by Stoffyn-Egli and Buckley (1995), concluded that the sulfate-reducing bacteria were inactive after all (Little, Gerke and Lee, 2014). After the disaster of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon, which spewed gallons of oil deep into the Atlantic Ocean, resulted in the speeding up of the corrosion of the titanic, since some microbes were attracted to the hydrocarbon from the oil and after this oil spill, they flourished. However, the oil was also harmful to other microbes and the biofilm on the Titanic, which exposed the ship to the seawater and sped up the process of corrosion (Fox-Skelly, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to prevent and control oil spills, since these catastrophes are not only harmful to the environment but also to human kinds’ heritage.
Wood-boring molluscs were also found eating away at the softer woods of the Titanic ship. These molluscs are known as Teredo navalis. The latter are a benthic species which ejected from the seabed, when the vessel struck the ocean bottom (Mowbray, 2004). The origin of this species is still unknown however, they can be found throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is a brown worm, however in actual fact, it is considered to be a bivalve. It has head, covered in a tri-lobed shell with a styloid apophysis. It has two siphons, one for feeding and respiration, while the other is used for waste and reproduction purposes. They have mantles which secrete calcareous covers to protect the species during burrowing (Ho, 2014).
The IMAX expedition in 1991 discovered a total of 28 species, such as a variety of crustacea, anemones, echinoderms and rattail fish (Gannon, 1995). James Cameroon’s expedition in 2001 discovered 68 new species. One of the latter was an unknown species of sea cucumber, with glowing phosphorescent and transparent characteristics (Pellegrino, 2012). This expedition also discovered a shrimp-like amphipod, able to produce a compound that can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and it is currently undergoing several clinical trials (Wollman, 2014).
In Conclusion…
The Titanic is an archaeological and ecological site that must be analysed, through a multidisciplinary approach to safeguard all aspects of this sunken vessel. This shipwreck has given metallurgists, ecologists and archaeologists, a vaster understanding on shipwreck corrosion, deep sea parameters, microbial and other ecological activity. The results attained from these studies can aid policy-makers and scientists to manage, protect and respect the Titanic (Lippsett, 2012).
References:
Bright, D.A. (2018) Future Scientific Studies Involving the Biological Ecosystem of Titanic [online], Available at: https://shipwreck.blogs.com/shipwrecks_historical_tim/2006/03/future_scientif.html, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
CNN (2018) Titanic Fast Facts [online], Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/30/us/titanic-fast-facts/index.html, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Fox-Skelly J. (2018) Some reports suggest the Titanic might disappear within 20 years because of the action of microbes – yet elsewhere, bacteria can help protect shipwrecks from decay [online], Available at: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170310-the-wreck-of-the-titanic-is-being-eaten-and-may-soon-vanish, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Gannon, Robert (February 1995) What Really Sank the Titanic. Popular Science: 54.
Ho M. (2014) Toredo navalis [online], Available at: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Teredo_navalis/, (Accessed on: 11/12/18)
International Maritime Organisation (2018) History of SOLAS (The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) [online], Available at: http://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/ReferencesAndArchives/HistoryofSOLAS/Pages/default.aspx, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Lippsett L. (2012) The Quest to Map Titanic [online], Available at: https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/the-quest-to-map-titanic, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Little B.J., Gerke T.L., and Lee J.S. (2014) Mini-review: the morphology, mineralogy and microbiology of accumulated iron corrosion products [online], Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4226311/, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Live Science (2018) New Species of Rust-Eating Bacteria Destroying the Titanic [online], Available at: https://www.livescience.com/9079-species-rust-eating-bacteria-destroying-titanic.html, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Mowbray S. (2004) Popular Science [online], Available at: https://books.google.com.mt/books?id=AcYXHIg_P3cC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=teredo+on+titanic&source=bl&ots=LDuKPO52at&sig=ZI6cf1N7rLbwfWTGphdb4m3jjao&hl=mt&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidl4nwx5ffAhXGpIsKHYccA8IQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%20titanic&f=false, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (N.A.) The Titanic Wrecksite [online], Available at: https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/titanicwrecksite/, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Pellegrino, Charles (2012). Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-87387-8.
Sanchez-Porro C., Kaur B., Mann H. and Ventosa A. (2010) Halomonas titanicae sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from the RMS Titanic [online], Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20061494, (Accessed on: 10/12/18).
Ware G.W. (2002) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology [online], Available at: https://books.google.com.mt/books?id=HpHbWn2sTroC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=biota+found+near+titanic&source=bl&ots=YhzbSiP8np&sig=uC5uCWdy_shj3DmNQkwXlUm8x4Y&hl=mt&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRipWFxpffAhXxkIsKHe_3A4sQ6AEwDHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=biota%20found%20near%20titanic&f=false, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Wollman D. (2014) James Cameron Found Himself at the Bottom of the Ocean [online], Available at: https://www.engadget.com/2014/08/01/deepsea-challenge-3d-review/?guccounter=1, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Image References:
Image 1: Campbell C. (N.A) Titanic [image], Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/65794844526309968/?lp=true, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Image 2: Kristof E. (2018) Titanic is Falling Apart [image], Available at:https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100818-titanic-3-d-expedition-shipwreck-science-collapsing/, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
Image 3: Wollman D. (2014) James Cameron Found Himself at the Bottom of the Ocean [image], Available at: https://www.engadget.com/2014/08/01/deepsea-challenge-3d-review/?guccounter=1, (Accessed on: 11/12/18).
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