Remember a year ago when the world witnessed the horrific sub disaster at the Titanic wreck site, when five people lost their lives after the catastrophic implosion of a submersible?
The smart thing would be to conclude, you know, "Eh, maybe we don't need to visit this wreck anymore. It's been done. Nothing new here. No need to risk it."
Real estate investor Larry Connor, of Dayton, said he and Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey will plunge more than 12,400 feet (2.3 miles) to the shipwreck site in a two-person submersible.
'I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way,' Connor told the Wall Street Journal.
Would somebody please tell this affable and optimistic billionaire:
The Titanic site has been combed more thoroughly than any shipwreck in the world. The ship ain't getting any sunker. It's a known factor and we don't need to dive more than two miles to see it anymore.
To make things maybe a bit more unsettling, the tech they're going to use for this dive is relatively new:
Lahey has designed a $20 million vessel dubbed the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, which Connor said can carry out the voyage repeatedly.
'Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn't have the materials and technology,' Connor said. 'You couldn't have built this sub five years ago.'
Is it good that this tech is newer and potentially more effective? Yes?
What about the fact that this tech is potentially relatively untested and might be subject to deep-sea stressors that could lead to another disaster?
I'm no expert on deep-sea technology, but it seems like a lot of risk for relatively little payoff.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
