People are only now learning why, despite the fact that over 1,500 people perished on board, no bodies can be seen inside the Titanic’s debris.
On its inaugural voyage from Southampton, England, to New York, USA, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912.
The shortage of lifeboats led to the deaths of nearly 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers and crew, making it one of the deadliest peacetime shipwrecks in history.
After decades of searching, the Titanic’s wreckage was discovered on September 1, 1985. Since then, teams have retrieved various items from the site, which lies more than 12,000 feet below sea level.
It was found that the Titanic likely broke apart near the water’s surface before sinking to the ocean floor. The ship’s bow, which still contained remarkably intact interiors, remained in better condition.
The debris field, stretching about 5 by 3 miles, contained hundreds of thousands of items, including fragments of the ship, furniture, crockery, and personal belongings of passengers.
Although pairs of shoes and boots were found in the debris, very few of the bodies of those who perished have ever been recovered.
What happened to all the victims of the Titanic? No human remains were found inside the remaining portion of the ship’s shell.
This is because the wreckage ended up resting in the Atlantic Ocean 12,000 feet below the surface.
Only their shoes and boots remain to indicate that they were previously there, while the majority of the human remains and clothing were eaten by bacteria and marine life.
The chemical makeup of the seawater varies with depth, which is another reason why no skeletons can be seen in the debris field.
According to Robert Ballard, one of the deep-sea searchers who initially found the wreck in 1985, the water may actually dissolve bones below a certain depth.
He revealed, “The water in the deep sea is under-saturated in calcium carbonate, which is mostly, you know, what bones are made of.”
“For example, on the Titanic and on the Bismarck, those ships are below the calcium carbonate compensation depth, so once the critters eat their flesh and expose the bones, the bones dissolve.”
“Now in the Black Sea, because there are no critters to eat, the bones should not be exposed. So you should have perfectly mummified fossils.”
People shared their thoughts on the matter on Reddit, writing, “That is horrifying,” and, “This is so eerie to think about…”
Others reflected, “The only comfort I can find is that those victims were returned to nature in the only way Mother Nature knows how.”
One commenter wrote, “Whoa, nightmarish. Real things usually are,” while another added, “Okay, well, that’s terrifying.”
Many of the items recovered from the debris field have been preserved for conservation and public display. Since its discovery, the wreckage has been visited repeatedly by scientists and explorers.
Despite several attempts, the ship has never been fully salvaged. Over time, iron-eating bacteria have rapidly spread across the hull, and unintentional damage from submersibles has caused its condition to deteriorate significantly.
In 2006, scientists predicted that the Titanic’s hull and framework would completely collapse within 50 years, leaving only the more durable interior components in a pile of rust on the seafloor.
A tourist expedition to visit the famous wreckage ended in tragedy last year.
All six people on board, including Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate and pilot of the Titan submarine, lost their lives when the sub imploded during its descent to the debris site.
