But the absence of skeletons isn’t just about sea creatures.
Robert Ballard, the deep-sea explorer who first discovered the Titanic wreck, explains that at these depths, the seawater actually has the ability to dissolve bones. The water is under-saturated in calcium carbonate, which is a key component of bones. As the soft tissue is consumed, the bones themselves slowly dissolve, leaving no trace behind.
“The issue you have to deal with is, at depth below about 3,000 feet, you pass below what’s called the calcium carbonate compensation depth,” deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard told NPR.
”And 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.”
The eerie reality
The discovery of the wreck and its surrounding debris field has always sparked a mix of awe and horror.
People who have learned about the disappearance of the Titanic’s bodies have shared their thoughts online, with many calling it “horrifying” or “eerie” to think about the thousands of lives lost and how nature has ultimately taken its course.
But amid this chilling reality, some find a strange comfort in knowing that the bodies were reclaimed by nature in its own way.
In the words of one commenter, ”The only comfort is that those victims were given back to nature the only way Mother Nature knows how.”
The Titanic’s slow decay
Since its discovery, the Titanic has been visited numerous times by scientists and explorers, and many of the items recovered have been put on display for public viewing.
Over the years, submersible expeditions have accidentally caused damage to the ship, and a bacteria that feeds on iron has been slowly eating away at its hull. Scientists predict that within the next 50 years, the Titanic’s structure may collapse completely, leaving nothing behind but rust and the remnants of its resilient interior.
