Not much is known about the wreck that sits at depths between 160 and 185 feet (49 to 56 meter) on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Some reports say that the ship did sink between 1800 and 1830. The bottles, covered with silt that collected over two centuries, could possibly hold the world’s oldest champagne. The vintage is said to be perfectly preserved due to the almost constant temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit. To prevent any accidental pop due to degreased pressure and warmer temperatures at the surface, the recovery team strapped down the antique corks with tape after the precious found reached the boat.

Experts estimate that each bottle could be worth tens thousands of dollars, or even several hundred thousand, if auctioned off. Finish authorities still have to decide what to do with the wreck. According to local law, artifacts older than one century belong to the Finnish Aland archipelago.

The discovery has already sparked a controversy between Swedish diver Christian Ekstrom and the Aland Maritime Historical Society. After Ekstrom recovered and opened the first bottle of the priceless champagne, the Aland Maritime Historical Society accused him of stealing the data of the ships location. Ekstrom denies the charges.

Related posts:

1. Divers discover world's oldest champagne
2. Andrea Doria: Divers recover bridge bell
3. New gas pipeline crosses Baltic Sea

The new finding, published this month in the journal "Global Change Biology," did lead the science team to conclude that these animals could have spread across both seas only by means of a trans-Antarctic seaway through what is now a 1.24 mile (2 kilometer) solid layer of ice. The scientists believe that the seaway opened up during a recent warm period between ice ages as recently as 125,000 years ago when the sea level was about 16.4 feet (5 meters) higher than it is today.

"The West Antarctic Ice Sheet can be considered the Achilles heel of Antarctica and because any collapse will have implications for future sea level rise it’s important that scientists get a better understanding of big deglaciation events," said Dr. David Barnes of British Antarctic Survey in a press release. "This biological evidence is one of the novel ways that we look for clues that help us reconstruct Antarctica’s ice sheet history. Our new research provides compelling evidence that a seaway stretching across West Antarctica could have opened up only if the ice sheet had collapsed in the past."

While some geological evidence suggests that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) collapsed at least once during the last one million years of Earth’s history, scientists are keen to determine the frequency of collapse and to understand the processes and connections between warm periods and deglaciation events. Scientists estimate that a complete collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise global sea level by around 10.8 to 16.4 feet (3.3 to 5 meter).

"When we found groups of strikingly similar bryozoans hundreds of miles apart we knew we were onto something very interesting," said Barnes. "Perhaps these species had survived the last ice age whereas in all other regions of Antarctica they were wiped out. We know that after the last ice age groups of bryozoans dispersed freely between many of the regions we studied. But because the larvae of these animals sink and this stage of their life is short — and the adult form anchors itself to the seabed — it’s very unlikely that they would have dispersed the long distances carried by ocean currents. For the bryozoans on both the Weddell and Ross sea continental shelves to be more similar to one another than to any of those found in the waters in between is striking indeed. Our conclusion is that the colonization of both these regions is a signal that both seas were connected by a trans-Antarctic seaway in the recent past."

Photo: British Antarctic Survey

Related posts:

1. Antarctica: Flow accelerates as glacier melts
2. South Korea: New station in Antarctica
3. Robot to Investigate Melting Ice

Captain Sir John Franklin, a Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, left England in 1845 to traverse the last unknown section of the Northwest Passage. The two expedition ships with a crew of 128 men became trapped in ice in the Victoria Strait in the Canadian Arctic. The Admiralty launched a rescue mission three years after Franklin’s original departure, and many subsequent expeditions joined the search.

In 1859, Scottish doctor and explorer John Rae discovered relics on King William Island that were left behind by the Franklin Arctic expedition. Cut marks on human bones were seen as possible signs of cannibalism among the crew members. The combined evidence of all studies suggested that hypothermia, starvation, disease, lead poisoning, and exposure to a hostile environment lacking adequate clothing and nutrition, killed everyone on the expedition.

While the search for the 372 ton HMS Erebus and the 325 ton HMS Terror will continues next year, the 2010 Parks Canada expedition did find the wreck of the HMS Investigator (Global Adventures reported here) earlier in the summer. The former merchant vessel was purchased by the British Admiralty in 1848 to search for the Franklin Arctic expedition.

The pictures show the HMS Erebus (right bottom) in an illustration dating back to 1845, and the HMS Terror (top left) thrown up by ice in the Arctic. Photos: Public Domain

Related posts:

1. Wreck of the HMS Investigator discovered
2. Arctic expedition will study acidity
3. Arctic: New Claims for Extended Zones?

A YouTube video-clip titled "Expedition Titanic: ROV Recovery" is available here:

RMS Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City on April 10, 1912. The Olympic-class passenger liner, owned by the White Star Line, struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912 about 400 miles (644 kilometers) south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and sank at 2:20 am the following morning. In one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters, 1,517 people drowned, and only 706 survived. The 882 feet (269 meter) vessel did have a displacement of 52,310 tons. With a height of 175 feet (53 meter), the Titanic featured 9 decks and 840 staterooms. Fully loaded, it could carry 2,687 passengers and a crew of 860.

"What an incredible day it's been. Images: jaw-dropping. Working up the nerve to climb up into that little room," said David Gallo, WHOI's director of special projects, on his Twitter account. "I really wish y'all could be aboard to see these images. Tough for anyone to get to sleep."

The latest attempt to map the wreck that lies roughly 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) below the ocean surface was threatened by the approach of hurricane Danielle. Officials said Sunday that they are heading back to shore and return once the storm has passed. Nevertheless, the expedition was able to probe the wreck and the large debris field surrounding it with a pair of robots that captured thousands of photographs and hours of high definition video. Scientists aim to complete a full inventory of the ships remains and artifacts that are partially buried under almost a century of sediment.

Some of the most stunning images of the Titanic wreck are seen in this video, placed on YouTube by Premier Exhibitions.

The F.G.O. Stuart picture shows the RMS Titanic at an unknown location in 1912. Photo: Public Domain

Related posts:

1. New Titanic Expedition in 2010
2. HMHS Britannic: War Grave in 400 Feet
3. Video: Turtle tows camera to Key West

Google updated almost all images of the ocean floor in 2009. Introduced in version 5.0, the Google Ocean feature allows users to zoom in to areas just below the surface and view the 3D bathymetry beneath the waves. Supporting over 20 content layers, Google Ocean contains information from leading scientists and oceanographers, including underwater data for the Great Lakes that was added in April 2009.

To explore the ocean, divers can use their Android powered phone and view the ocean floor or shipwrecks just beneath them. They can use the applications “look around” button and zoom in on points of interest or change the angle of view. Information stored on Wikipedia can be accessed, and users can use the “Explore the Ocean” layer to upload or view pictures and video contributed by Google Earth users.

Google Earth for Android can be downloaded from the Android Market and is compatible with phones running Android versions 2.1 and later.

Related posts:

1. Average ocean depth is 12,081 feet
2. Climate Change: Ocean Labs to collect Data
3. Taiwan: New ocean database