WHOI releases rare video of Titanic wreckage

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution released Wednesday unique and never seen before images of its 1986 dive through the wreckage of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic.

WHOI’s YouTube channel listed the more than 80-minute video, which pointed to the achievements of the dive, led by Robert Ballard.

It marked the first time ever that “human eyes had seen the giant ocean liner since it struck an iceberg and sank in the frigid North Atlantic in April 1912,” the Associated Press reported.

About 1,500 people died during the ship’s maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City when the ship sank on April 15, 1912.

A team from the Massachusetts-based WHOI, in partnership with the French oceanographic exploration organization Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer, “discovered the final resting place of the ship in 12,400 feet (3,780 meters) of water on Sept. 1, 1985 using a towed underwater camera,” according to the AP.

“Nine months later, a WHOI team returned to the site in the famous three-person research submersible Alvin and the remotely-operated underwater exploration vehicle Jason Jr., which took iconic images of the ship’s interior,” it added.

The release of the footage is in conjunction with the 25th anniversary release on Feb. 10 of the remastered version of the Academy Award-winning movie, “Titanic.”