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New images of Titanic reveal part of iconic bow’s railing collapsed, other discoveries
Striking new images from a recent expedition to the Titanic wreckage show the decay on the iconic ship’s bow with a large section of railing now on the sea floor, as well as the discovery of a bronze statue from the ship that was feared lost forever.
The railing – immortalized in James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film – was discovered during a series of dives by underwater robots this summer.
RMS Titanic Inc., a Georgia-based company that holds the legal rights to the 112-year-old wreck, completed its first trip since 2010 and released images from the expedition on Monday. The pictures show a site that continues to change more than a century later.
RMS Titanic Inc. via AP
“Titanic’s Bow is iconic. It is a haunting image rising from the sea floor as a testament to her strength and defiance,” the company said on its website highlighting the expedition. “The once miraculously intact railing surrounding the Bow’s forecastle deck was missing a 15-foot-long section on the port side.”
Tomasina Ray, director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc., told CBS News partner BBC that the discovery was a “reminder of the deterioration that’s happening every day” at the wreck.
“People ask all the time: ‘How long is Titanic going to be there?’ We just don’t know but we’re watching it in real time,” she added.
Ray told the Associated Press that the discovery only strengthened the team’s commitment to preserving the Titanic’s legacy.
The crew spent 20 days at the site and returned to Providence, Rhode Island, on Aug. 9. They captured more than 2 million of the highest-resolution pictures of the site ever to exist, the company said.
A highlight of the expedition was the discovery of the bronze statue “Diana of Versailles” which was last seen and photographed in 1986 by Robert Ballard, who had found the wreck of the Titanic only a year earlier. The statue – a 2-foot-tall bronze statue that was on display for the ship’s first-class passengers – was discovered lying face-up in the sediment in the debris field.
RMS Titanic Inc. via AP
“It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and to rediscover this year was momentous,” James Penca, a Titanic researcher and presenter of the Witness Titanic podcast, told the BBC.
He said the statue was the centerpiece of the first-class lounge but when the ship split during the sinking, the lounge was opened.
“And in the chaos and the destruction, Diana got ripped off her mantle and she landed in the darkness of the debris field,” Penca added.
The team also fully mapped the wreck and its debris field with equipment that should improve understanding of the site, RMS Titanic said. The next step is to process the data so it can be shared with the scientific community, and so “historically significant and at-risk artifacts can be identified for safe recovery in future expeditions,” the company said in a statement.
Over the years, RMS Titanic Inc. has retrieved thousands of items from the wreck, some of which have been displayed around the world. They plan to return next year to recover more items and would like to bring back the Diana statue.
Penca said the rediscovery of the statue is the perfect argument that the Titanic is a grave site and should be left alone. The ship sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg and 1,500 lives were lost.
“This was a piece of art that was meant to be viewed and appreciated. And now that beautiful piece of art is on the ocean floor… in pitch black darkness where she has been for 112 years,” Penca told the BBC. “To bring Diana back so people can see her with their own eyes – the value in that, to spark a love of history, of diving, of conservation, of shipwrecks, of sculpture, I could never leave that on the ocean floor.”
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.