The Titanic final resting place
This week, a group of five people lost their life as they ventured beneath the surface of the sea, 12,000 feet below the surface, in a attempt to visit the site of the famous White Star Line cruise ship, the Titanic. A legendary ship, that has been the subject of intrigue, mystic, and of course Hollywood spun romantic dramas. No less than 14 movies and 23 documentaries have woven fiction and non-fiction into the stories, the ship, it’s captain and its passengers.
I am not exactly sure what the overpowering intrigue is about a ship that sank 111 years ago that draws us to write about, make documentaries and movies about it, and of course explore its final resting place almost 13,000 feet beneath the earth’s surface, but it is fascinating.
I’ve concluded that it might have a little to do with a touch of class envy (rich versus poor), arrogance (full speed ahead) and downright stupidity (I didn’t know there were icebergs that big). All traits that make a wonderful story spun from any angle.
Since oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard found the Titanic’s final resting place in 1985, the race has been on to collect artifacts and data regarding the famed turn of the century example of grandeur and ingenuity. This week, it became a deadly race.
Deep sea exploration is not for the faint of heart, definitely not in my wheel house. I prefer breathing natural air as opposed to air from a can, not that there is anything wrong with canned air, I just find it easier to inhale and exhale natural air, something I have been doing since birth and quite frankly, aside from my ignorant days of smoking, I believe I have fully mastered the art of breathing.
Somewhat shamefully, I had mixed emotions about the crew that sadly perished this week, when truthfully, I should have had just two emotions, sadness for their deaths and deep sympathy for the family and friends they left behind. That’s it, nothing more needed than that.
Unfortunately, there have been meme’s and endless jokes about the hubris and arrogance of the “rich” for paying 250k per person for a volunteer ride to the bottom of the sea and ultimately their death.
Now, regardless of how much money I had, currently have or ever will have, I would never pay a quarter of a million dollars for a carnival ride. I’ve been on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and that was enough test of my sea legs to last me a life time. I haven’t been there in quite a while, I am told that the entry prices to Disney Land are close to the prices I mentioned earlier.
I totally get the allure of seeing something up close that only a handful of people have ever seen but the reality is, that ship sank with a passenger count of 2,240 people aboard, of which 1500 perished. I believe the crash site of the Titanic, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is the final resting place for so many souls and should be left alone. As far as I am concerned, there should be no more exploring, collecting artifacts, and definitely no more “viewing trips” of the Titanic. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, people tragically died as a result of it and we should let them rest in peace.