Rare video footage showing the wreckage of the Titanic ocean liner on the Atlantic floor has been released more than a century after the ship hit an iceberg and sank.
Shot at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) just months after explorers spotted the wreck in 1985, the emotive clips feature images of the ship, including its famous bow section, deck and equipment.
Taken about two miles (three kilometers) below the surface of the ocean, the 80-minute video of uncut footage, much of which has never been released to the public, shows the interior of the ship, as well as the marine life swimming around it.
While many efforts were made to find the Titanic after the ship sank on its maiden voyage, it was not until September 1985 that a team led by Robert Ballard with the Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer ( IFEMER) finally managed to discover the destruction.
“In 1985, WHOI developed new imaging technology, including Argo, a camera sled towed from the research vessel Knorr and captured the first photographs of the ship under more than 12,400 feet of water ,” reads a press release from WHOI.
The following year, a team from WHOI made the first trip to view the sunken ship using a three-man submersible named Alvin and the newly developed remotely operated vehicle Jason Jr. This newly released footage shows the 1986 expedition.
Its release “marks the first time people have seen the ill-fated ship since 1912 and includes many other iconic scenes,” WHOI added.
The Titanic, believed to be nearly invincible when it was built, was the largest ocean liner in service at the time. It hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912, in the Atlantic while it was sailing from Southampton, England, to New York. More than 1,500 people died in the sinking, which shocked the world and prompted outrage over the lack of lifeboats on board.
A team from WHOI and the French National Institute of Oceanography found the shipwreck broken in two parts southeast of Newfoundland in Canada on Sept. 1, 1985.
During 11 dives in July 1986, footage was shot by cameras on a manned submersible and a small remotely operated vessel maneuvering in tight spaces.
The release of this particular footage was timed to coincide with the release of director James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic” on its 25th anniversary. The movie won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
“More than a century after the loss of the Titanic, the human stories embodied in the great ship continue to resonate,” Cameron said in the release.
“Like many, I was amazed when Alvin and Jason Jr. ventured into and into the wreckage. By releasing this footage, WHOI is helping to tell an important part of a story that spans generations and around the world.”
CNN’s Tamara Hardingham-Gill contributed to this report.
