Our collective fascination with the Titanic persists unabated, 100 years after the sinking of the ship. While I’m embarrassed to admit I can’t wait to see the 3D version of the movie, what we so easily forget is that the Titanic site is an underwater museum and, more significantly, a mass grave. Dr. Bob Ballard is on a mission to stop the destruction and pillaging of the remains of the great ship and preserve the site for generations to come. The new exhibit,Titanic, 12,450 Feet Below, a collaboration between Ballard and former Disney Imagineer, Tim Delaney, takes a less sensationalistic but no less dramatic approach.

You’ll find no artifacts here. Through videos, interactive features and models of the Marconi room and First Class cabins, the exhibit reveals the chain of events that led to the sinking, the environmental factors that have contributed to its preservation and the astonishing tale of its discovery by Dr. Ballard and his crew. Haunting life-size photos of those that went down with the ship and models of leather boots mired in the debris field bring to mind images of the discarded shoe piles of Holocaust victims. You’ll find Titanic 12,450 Feet Below moving, educational and inspiring. I did.
www.mysticaquarium.org