The Big Mac Blog

Discovery of Indianapolis reduces ocean’s great wrecks to two

Explorer Dr. Robert Ballard said in a 2012 interview that there are three major finds remaining at the bottom of the ocean, including the USS Indianapolis. The warship that sank in 1945 was discovered by an expedition led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen this weekend.

One of my favorite all-time interviews is Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who in 1985 discovered The Titanic.

In February of 2012, Ballard told me there were three major finds that remained at the bottom of the ocean: “The ones you hear about are Shackleton's ship The Endurance. We know where it is, it would just take money to get to it,” he told me. “Certainly The Indianapolis is a famous ship that has never been found. Everybody has been going after Amelia Earhart's airplane.”

Speaking of money ... all it takes is one billionaire with millions to burn to find one of those three.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced on his Twitter feed that his personally-funded expedition discovered The USS Indianapolis, one of the most famous ships involved in WWII.

The story of the Indianapolis, made more famous by a speech delivered by Robert Shaw in the movie “Jaws,” is worth reading. There is hell, and there is surviving The Indianapolis.

The discovery of the boat that sank in June of 1945 reminded me of this interview with Ballard. I kept him on the phone for 30 minutes, and it felt too short.

We covered Titanic, his thoughts on global warming, and why he wants to empower women.

The Big Mac Blog: What are you busy with today?

Dr. Robert Ballard: I have my own ship now. I have been at this for 52 years and on 130 expeditions and during that time I said, 'Never own a ship'. In this latter part of my career and got my own ship. That changed my life. Historically I would go out and do my expeditions in the summer because the weather is good. Then I got this ship. I'm doing a lot but in many different areas.

You'll see that it's three (things): One is exploratory technology. I've been doing that for forever. I had to build my own toy. This has been an on going thing for me, and it's changed. The first was to use manned submersibles. The second was not to use manned submersibles and use robots. The third is you don't go yourself at all. It's just technology.

The Big Mac Blog: Don't you miss actually going on the water to do this research and the feel of it?

Dr. Robert Ballard: I'll give you this analogy. Every year I go Jackson Hole, Wyoming and I ride a horse. But I ride a car to work. I'm trying to get something done as opposed to having a nice trip. Submarine, you spend all of your time going up and down an elevator and very little time exploring. Maybe but two hours. You are crammed inside a sphere you can die; you are looking outside a small window and no one else can see what you can see because they are looking out a different window.

There is no bathroom. It’s cold. You are hitting your head. You get headaches. Do I enjoy diving? Yeah. I do it once in a while like horseback riding. But when I want to get work done I want to do it the best way.

The Big Mac Blog: Is it true the the best days of owning a boat is the day you own it, and sell it; will that be true with you?

Dr. Robert Ballard: Not really. I'm having a ball. It's really focused my life. I'm very Nautilus centric. It's simplified my life, and made it more complex. My reign of exploration has increased dramatically. We are getting the amount of work I did in five years completed in one.

So if you are in a hurry before you die, and I turn 70, I am in a hurry. I know there is a lot of amazing things yet to be discovered that I want to find. I know that I am playing this statistical game - it boils down to math. You don't live forever and the older you get the harder it is to go to sea. And I also know we have seen so little of the ocean.

And I know that most of my major discoveries - not the Titanic, we didn't discover that, we just found it - it was when we were looking for something else and found it. If you don't know it's there you can't tell people you are going to find it.

The silliest question I get asked is, 'What are you going to find next?' I don't have a clue because I don't know what it is I'm going to find.

And people don't realize how unmapped this world is. Seventy two percent of the planet is water. The ocean literacy of the American people is abominable.

The Big Mac Blog: In terms of global warming, has the water you explored changed dramatically since you began your career?

Dr. Robert Ballard: No. I'm at great depth. The average depth of where I go is 12,000 feet. It's pitch black. The world I go to is forever dark, and forever under pressure and forever cold. Cold water sinks there. It will be the last place on the planet that will get warm.




The Big Mac Blog: Spills over.









The Big Mac Blog: Explain that.


The Big Mac Blog: When you speak of being able to do all of your research from a computer screen are you not missing anything of actually being in that location?

Dr. Robert Ballard: Is this because I want to pick some roses and smell them or do I want to make a living? I have a job, or a vacation? Which are we talking about. I was able to pick my son up at school, and if I was in my telecommunications center I'd be at the bottom of the ocean.

It's a question, do I miss watching people vomit? No. Do I miss being away from my family? No. Do I miss a sunset at sea? Yes. Do I go to sea? Yes. Do I go to sea less than I used to? Absolutely. Do I discover more? Yes. I am trying to have my cake and eat it too and I think I pulled it off.

The Big Mac Blog: People ask you about discovering The Titanic but you said you found it ...

Dr. Robert Ballard: The discovery wasn't that I found it it was that the rate of preservation was so high. That lead me on to this road to finding lots of ancient ship wrecks. That was the discovery. It was that the deep sea is the largest museum on earth. We are now realizing what destroys human history and what preserves it and where to find it and accelerating our discovery of it. The first time I looked for an ancient shipwreck I spent a month and found one. Now I find one every 11 hours because I cracked the Rosetta Stone.

The Big Mac Blog: Is there any ship or wreck that is on your bucket list?

Dr. Robert Ballard: Yeah. I have children write me who ask, 'Will you stop so there are some left for me.' I don't mind that I left some on the table. The ones that seem to be high on people's list are treasure ships. I have no interest ships. The ones you hear about are Shackleton's ship The Endurance. We know where it is, it would just take money to get to it. Certainly the Indianapolis is a famous ship that has never been found. Everybody has been going after Amelia Earhart's airplane.

I am more interested in that unknown ship of the bronze age that is perfectly preserved in the Black Sea with the crew draped over the oars. That would be cool.




Dr. Robert Ballard: It depends upon which button it pushed. It pushed all the buttons people have. Start with kids, who are brought up if they are lucky in a Garden of Eden of innocence. The Titanic was this giant parental screwup. Kids it was sticking their finger in a flame; kids couldn't quite process doing something like sinking a ship. For women, it was the grandeur and celebrity of it. The stars of society back then were not news anchors or athletes they were the super wealthy - the Astors, the Strausses, the Guggenheims. And they died.





The Big Mac Blog: What are your greatest hopes and fears for your profession after you are done?

Dr. Robert Ballard: I have picked a successor. I have a new generation of people who are in place. That is gratifying. I am ready to let the new generation go and have fun.

Mac Engel: @macengelprof

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