Because they eat about 180kg (400lbs) a day, scientists have given the ship a waning life expectancy. “The rusticles are unique because they’re kind of the dominant species down there,” Johnston says.īy the time explorer Robert Ballard and his team discovered the ship in 1985, the rusticles had already taken over. The acidic, oxidised fluid oozes downward with gravity, forming fragile branches of rust. These ‘rusticles’ are the by-products of bacteria that oxidise the iron they consume. “Now, there’s more life on Titanic than there was floating on the surface,” says Lori Johnston, microbial ecologist and a six-time visitor of the wreck. Engulfed by deep-sea darkness, the wreck sat for more than 70 years while bacteria ate away at its metal hull, leaving behind millions of delicate, icicle-shaped formations. It split in two and sank to a depth of 3.8km (2.5 miles) about 600km (370 miles) off the shores of Newfoundland, Canada. The Titanic struck an iceberg on 14 April 1912 as it steamed across the Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. That means that the group of select paying passengers which Rojas is joining won’t only be the first to lay eyes on the wreck since 2005, they will also be among the last to see it at all.Īnd while the expedition is a commercial venture, it is a scientific one too: the group will use advanced 3D-modelling tools to analyse and preserve the memory of the Titanic for generations to come. Experts predict it will last only a little more than 20 years. Rust-forming bacteria are rapidly consuming the Titanic. This is a dream that has become increasingly urgent over the years. In 2019, following a lifetime of scuba training and saving money, Rojas is scheduled to fulfil her grandest dream: visiting the wreck of the RMS Titanic. It’s very serene,” she remembers today, decades later. It was in this moment that she discovered an eternal love for the ocean. She breathed through her snorkel as she studied its wings resting on the white sand. There, illuminated by the sunlight, was a sunken plane.

Now, as she glided across the waves, her father stopped her and told her to look down to the sea floor. She was only five years old never before had she been allowed out this far. Renata Rojas paddled behind her father through the water off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico.

Titanic video game cover