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A12 SCIENCE
Monday 19 october 2020
Plan to retrieve Titanic radio spurs debate on human remains

deep ocean, and bones
dissolve at great ocean
depths because of seawa-
ter's chemistry, Gallo said.
The Titanic sits about 2.4
miles (3.8 kilometers) below
the surface.
Yet whale bones have
been discovered at similar
depths, as were human re-
mains on a 2009 Air France
plane that crashed into the
Atlantic.
"But generally that doesn't
happen," said Gallo, who
previously worked at the
Woods Hole Oceano-
graphic Institution and has
been involved in several Ti-
tanic expeditions.
Archaeologists who filed
court statements support-
ing the government's case
said there must be human
remains, and questioned
the motives of those cast-
ing doubts.
This 2004 photo provided by the Institute for Exploration, Center for Archaeological Oceanography/University of Rhode Island/ Johnston wrote to the
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, shows the remains of a coat and boots in the mud on the sea bed near Titanic's stern.
Associated Press court that remains could
be "within the confines of
By BEN FINLEY of maritime history at the be honored, and whether a deckhouse that holds the wreck or outside in the
Associated Press Smithsonian's National Mu- an expedition should be al- the telegraph equipment, debris field" in areas lacking
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Peo- seum of American History. lowed to enter its hull. according to court docu- oxygen.
ple have been diving to "You can't possibly tell me In May, a federal judge in ments filed by the compa- In an interview, Johnston
the Titanic's wreck for 35 that some human remains Norfolk, Virginia, approved ny. said the company doesn't
years. No one has found aren't buried deep some- the expedition. People on both sides of the want "anyone to be think-
human remains, according where where there are no U.S. District Judge Rebec- human-remains debate ing about human remains.
to the company that owns currents." ca Beach Smith wrote that claim the issue is being They want people to think,
the salvage rights. The company, RMS Titanic recovering the radio "will played down — or up — to 'Oh cool. I have new arti-
But the company's plan to Inc., wants to exhibit the contribute to the legacy support an argument. facts to show the public.'"
retrieve the ship's iconic ra- ship's Marconi wireless tele- left by the indelible loss of RMS Titanic Inc. President David Conlin, chief of the
dio equipment has sparked graph machine. It broad- the Titanic, those who sur- Bretton Hunchak told The National Park Service's Sub-
a debate: Could the world's cast the sinking ocean vived, and those who gave Associated Press the gov- merged Resources Cen-
most famous shipwreck still liner's distress calls and their lives." ernment's position is based ter, also filed a statement
hold remains of passengers helped save about 700 But the U.S. government on emotion rather than sci- against the expedition.
and crew who died a cen- people in lifeboats. filed a legal challenge in ence. Conlin told AP "it would be
tury ago? Retrieving the equipment June, claiming the under- "Issues like this are used sim- scientifically astounding
Lawyers for the U.S. gov- would require an un- taking would violate feder- ply to raise public support," if there were not human
ernment have raised that manned submersible to al law and a pact with Brit- Hunchak said. "It creates a remains still onboard that
question in an ongoing slip through a skylight or ain recognizing the wreck visceral reaction for every- ship."
court battle to block the cut into a heavily corroded as a memorial site. U.S. at- body." He said wrecks older than
planned expedition. They roof on the ship's deck. A torneys argue the agree- The firm is the court-rec- the Titanic have contained
cite archaeologists who suction dredge would re- ment regulates entry into ognized steward of Titanic remnants of crew or pas-
say remains could still be move loose silt, while ma- the wreck to ensure its hull, artifacts, overseeing thou- sengers.
there. And they say the nipulator arms could cut artifacts and "any human sands of items including Eight sailors' remains were
company fails to consid- electrical cords. remains" are undisturbed. silverware, china and gold discovered on the H.L. Hun-
er the prospect in its dive RMS Titanic Inc. says human The case is pending before coins. ley, a Confederate sub-
plan. "Fifteen hundred remains likely would've the 4th Circuit Court of Ap- "This company has always marine that sank in 1864.
people died in that wreck," been noticed after roughly peals in Richmond. treated the wreck as both And human bones were
said Paul Johnston, curator 200 dives. The Titanic was traveling an archaeological site and found at a first-century B.C.
"It's not like taking a shovel from England to New York a grave site with reverence freighter wreck near the
to Gettysburg," said David in 1912 when it struck an and respect," Hunchak Greek island of Antikythera.
Gallo, an oceanographer iceberg and sank in the said. "And that doesn't "Very deep, cold, low-oxy-
and company adviser. North Atlantic. The wreck change whether in fact hu- gen water is an incredible
"And there's an unwritten was discovered in 1985. man remains could possibly preservative," Conlin said.
rule that, should we see hu- Over the years, explorers exist." "The human remains that
man remains, we turn off have sent remotely oper- Gallo said remnants of we would expect to find
the cameras and decide ated vehicles into parts of those who died likely disap- are going to be in the interi-
what to do next." the ship. peared decades ago. or spaces that are more dif-
The dispute stems from a During his 2001 expedition, Sea creatures would've ficult to access, where the
larger debate over how film director James Cam- eaten away flesh because preservation will be both
the Titanic's victims should eron surveyed the area in protein is scarce in the tragic and spectacular."q