SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
A hundred twelve years after it sank, there are still new things to discover about the Titanic. Nearly 400 miles off the coast of Canada, a group of Titanic researchers recently led an unmanned expedition to survey the wreckage. They're now unveiling some exciting discoveries. James Penca is a researcher with RMS Titanic Incorporated and was a big part of the effort. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
JAMES PENCA: Thank you so much for having me.
DETROW: So let's just start big-picture. Your group is the official company that explores and preserves artifacts from the Titanic. And this is not the group's first expedition. It's been down there several times. What was distinct about this particular recent mission?
PENCA: Well, the important part of this year's expedition was that we haven't been to the wreck since 2010. It's been 14 years. So 14 years of technology, as we all know, is quite advanced from what we had back in 2010. So what we were able to take down there - the cameras, the scanners - would make 2010's expedition look like child's play in terms of what we were able to learn from the wreck.
DETROW: What did it feel like? What was that moment like for you the first time that you saw the wreck come onto the screen in front of you?
PENCA: Ah, gosh, I have been a hopeless Titanic enthusiast since I was 6 years old, and it never ceased to amaze me that I was that close to the wreck. And seeing the first images of the ship on a screen - it was emotional. There were a lot of tears in the room for a lot of us, even the people who've been there before.
DETROW: Let's talk about some of the discoveries that were made on this trip. And I understand there were some exciting ones, and there were some bittersweet ones. Let's start...
PENCA: Yes.
DETROW: ...With the exciting.
PENCA: Sure. So on this expedition, we weren't recovering, but we were looking out for artifacts for future recovery, and there was one artifact at the top of our list. It was a bronze statue, about two feet tall, known as the Diana of Versailles. This statue sat in the first-class lounge aboard Titanic. This lounge was probably the most elegant room on the ship, and this statue was the centerpiece of that elegant room. So this statue really sat at the heart of Titanic.
The trouble with this artifact is it has been photographed only one time - in 1986. So to find this statue, to us, would be one of the great achievements of this expedition. But the odds of finding it - it's truly a needle in a haystack that is 2 1/2 miles underwater in pitch-black darkness. And after many trials and errors, we did manage to find Diana and take her first photos in 38 years. And we found her with just hours remaining in the expedition. It was an unbelievable moment - again, more tears coming from a lot of members of the team. It was a very special moment.
DETROW: So on one hand, high-profile aspects of the wreck have been found and remain shockingly the same. But on the other hand, there was some evidence you gathered that some of the iconic aspects of the ship may be collapsing, may be deteriorating.
PENCA: Yes. So everyone knows the famous James Cameron film - the I'm flying scene - I'm - you know, the king of the world scene - all took place on Titanic's iconic prow - at the very, very point of the ship. And we discovered, when we reached the wreck last month, that the port-side railing has fallen off. Now, this is, again, a very natural thing. Different parts of the railing are getting weaker. But for such a high-profile and highly photographed and iconic railing to now be resting on the ocean floor below, it's a significant change, and Titanic will literally never look the same.
DETROW: There have been many shipwrecks throughout history. There have been many high-profile tragedies. There have been many of those things that have become big blockbuster movies. But there's something different about Titanic. What do you think it is that attracts people's imaginations in this way - yours or others?
PENCA: Plain and simple, Titanic feeds this part of us as human beings. You know, we are storytellers. We love a good story. And I would put Titanic's life and loss up against any great story, any Hollywood film, any great novel, a war story. There's romance. There's heroism. There's tragedy, of course, but there's so much life aboard Titanic. Titanic is just this weird moment in history - that every single element of it lined up as if it was written for a Hollywood film. It is truly too good to be true. But the more you dive into Titanic, the more true it becomes.
DETROW: James Penca is a researcher for RMS Titanic Incorporated. Thank you so much.
PENCA: Thank you.
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