Mysterious "Sonar Ping" at Titanic Wreck: Divers Make Surprising Discovery Nearby

Created: 2022-11-10 05:04

By: Martina Lippl

Titanc shipwreck: Mysterious sonar ping puzzled researchers for decades.

© screenshot Twitter/OceanGate Expeditions

During a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, divers recorded a sonar signal.

That was in 1996. Until now, the origin was unknown.

St. John's - The shipwreck of the Titanic lies 12,000 feet on the ocean floor at the bottom of the North Atlantic.

The sinking of the largest and safest passenger ship in 1912 was an unprecedented tragedy.

The Titanic was considered unsinkable.

Mysterious "sonar ping" at Titanic wreck

Divers recorded a sonar signal during an expedition to the iconic shipwreck in 1996.

The researchers were initially unable to assign the signal.

Speculations about another mysterious object quickly made the rounds.

Paul Henry Nargeolet, an experienced Nautile dive pilot and Titanic diver, even suspects another shipwreck in the depths of the sea behind the ping.

The signal confused.

It looked eerily similar to Titanic in profile, OceanGate Expeditions reports.

Now scientists have solved the mystery behind the ping.

More than two decades later, Titanic veteran Nargeolet got his chance to dive to the source of the signal.

Titanc shipwreck: Mysterious sonar ping puzzled researchers for decades.

© screenshot Twitter/OceanGate Expeditions

Found near Titanic shipwreck ecosystem in deep sea

“We didn't know what we would discover.

On the sonar, this could have been a number of things, including the possibility that it was another shipwreck," Nargeolet said in a press release.

It's not a shipwreck.

The signal was caused by a rich underwater ecosystem.

It's coral, lobster, and fish that live on the seabed more than 9,000 feet (2,900 meters) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Researchers are currently working on an analysis of images and videos taken during the dive.

They want to better understand life in the deep sea.

"It's biologically fascinating.

The animals that live there are very different from the animals that otherwise live in the deep ocean," said Murray Roberts, professor of applied marine biology and ecology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and one of the researchers on the expedition.

“(Nargeolet) has done some really important scientific work.

He thought it was a shipwreck and it turned out to be even more amazing than a shipwreck to my mind.”

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Researchers solve mystery near Titanic wreckage

The ecosystem is about 40 kilometers from the Titanic shipwreck.

A submersible called "Titan" was able to take high-resolution images with a special camera.

In early 2022, it was possible to record a video of the wreck in 8k - the currently highest possible resolution.

They are shots in "phenomenal colors" and an unprecedented sharpness.

Titanic experts fear that the wreck of the Titanic will be gone in a few years.

Bacteria that eat through the ship's hull, rust and ocean currents are bad for the wreck.

OceanGate Expeditions research into Titanic and the surrounding areas will continue in 2023.

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Titanic - Chronology of a tragic maiden voyage

• On April 10, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton, England for New York.

• On April 14, 1912, the luxury ship collided with an iceberg.

  The sharp ice damaged the ship's structure and tore serious leaks.

  The Titanic eventually broke apart, caught fire and sank.

• Around 1,500 passengers and crew members died in the icy waters of the North Atlantic.

  Hundreds of people were able to get to safety on the few lifeboats.

The shipwreck of the luxury liner was discovered in 1985 southeast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1996 diver Paul Henry Nargeolet discovered the signal.