National Geographic: Treasures of the Deep Page #5

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eater to see the new find close-up.

Unlike most deep-diving subs,

the NR-1 actually has three windows

on its underside.

For Adams, they are portals

to the tragedies of the past.

When you're diving,

you can't get half-a-mile down,

like we are now.

And it's easy to lose sight

of the people.

I suppose their the last moments

for them on board this vessel,

before it sank,

must have been the climax of a crisis

that might have actually been going on

for several hours,

as the well organized machine

that the ship is gradually breaks down

and down it goes.

So it's quite an awe-inspiring sight.

In this graveyard of lost vessels,

the NR-1 explores the very last site.

The new ship is

another Roman trading vessel dating

from the first century A.D.

And a cargo rarely seen by scientists.

An orderly pile of large cut stones

and two pillars,

carefully wrought pieces,

like giant toy blocs,

still waiting after 2,000 years,

for hands to assemble them.

Perhaps they were the pre-fabricated

pieces of an ancient building,

carved out of an Egyptian quarry,

destined for Roman shores.

It will take months, even years,

before the archeologists

know the answers,

if they ever do.

As always,

Ballard is concerned about protecting

the sites for posterity.

When we discovered the Titanic,

we did not file a claim of ownership.

And I was later told

that had we done that,

had we recovered one little object,

we could have claimed it,

and in so doing, helped protect it.

By bringing up the Skerki artifacts,

Ballard establishes his right

to claim the sites in court,

if ever it becomes necessary.

Oh, this is very heavy very heavy.

For now, Ballaard will place

the artifacts recovered at Skerki Bank

in the Sea Research Foundation,

where they will be preserved

according to the highest

archeological standards.

Last one.

Together Ballard and the scientists

have proven that the new world

of deep sea archeology can work wonders.

I feel very good.

I feel that this, you know,

really is an historic expedition.

This is the first major deep sea

archeological expedition,

an incredible team of people from

incredibly diverse backgrounds,

working together for the first time

to try to do something

that had never been done before.

I think we have shown that the deep

sea is a repository of human history

on a scale we've just never

comprehended before.

But are the archeological glories

of the deep sea at risk

from salvagers and treasure hunters?

Yes, Ballard believes,

until they learn to respect the past.

I have no fundamental problem

with treasure hunters,

if they don't destroy history

in the process.

I don't think it's our right

to destroy history.

It's our right to find it

and document it,

but not our right to destroy it.

As long as there are marvels in the seas,

people will pursue them.

Some will be treasure hunters,

dreaming of gold and gems.

And some will be scientists,

dreaming of the astonishing discovery

that next awaits them.

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