The Daily OrangeTitanic discoverer talks about exploration career
By Steve Doane
Posted: 3/25/09, 4:24 AM EST Section: News
After 40 years of undersea exploration, Robert Ballard said he still has a favorite prank he likes to play on rookie submariners.
The world-famous oceanographer and explorer said that when he takes people on their first dive in his submersible, Alvin, he likes to indulge fears that condensation falling from the sub's hatch is in fact a leak.
"We would take bets on how many drips it would take a person to become concerned," he said. "It usually takes about eight drips before they say something."
This is one facet of Ballard's extraordinary career, which includes his discovery of the Titanic two miles deep in the North Atlantic Ocean, that he shared with a crowd of about 300 in Hendricks Chapel Monday evening. The speech, titled "Adventure in Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream," was the final installment of this year's University Lectures and was also sponsored by the Geoffrey O. Seltzer Lecture Series.
Ballard, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, projected his slideshow and walked the audience through the highlights of his 120 undersea expeditions, which include the first manned expedition to the mid-ocean rift in the Atlantic Ocean, his discovery of new life off the Galapagos Islands, and finding historic shipwrecks such as the Titanic, the U.S.S. Yorktown and the Nazi battleship Bismarck. He is also responsible for locating PT-109, the boat President John F. Kennedy used during World War II.
"I find a joy in exploration, and I enjoy getting people excited about what lies ahead, because so much is unexplored," Ballard said.
Ballard discussed his discovery of famous shipwrecks, including the Titanic and the U.S.S. Yorktown, and the questions the discoveries tend to spark.
"People always ask me how I know I found the right ship," he said. "In this case, it said 'Yorktown' on the stern."
Throughout the lecture, Ballard kept the audience engaged with lighthearted quips and anecdotes about his expeditions. He once preserved a tube worm specimen, the only life form on earth that can exist without photosynthesis, in a vat of some of the crew's prized liquor stash.
The world-famous oceanographer and explorer said that when he takes people on their first dive in his submersible, Alvin, he likes to indulge fears that condensation falling from the sub's hatch is in fact a leak.
"We would take bets on how many drips it would take a person to become concerned," he said. "It usually takes about eight drips before they say something."
This is one facet of Ballard's extraordinary career, which includes his discovery of the Titanic two miles deep in the North Atlantic Ocean, that he shared with a crowd of about 300 in Hendricks Chapel Monday evening. The speech, titled "Adventure in Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream," was the final installment of this year's University Lectures and was also sponsored by the Geoffrey O. Seltzer Lecture Series.
Ballard, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, projected his slideshow and walked the audience through the highlights of his 120 undersea expeditions, which include the first manned expedition to the mid-ocean rift in the Atlantic Ocean, his discovery of new life off the Galapagos Islands, and finding historic shipwrecks such as the Titanic, the U.S.S. Yorktown and the Nazi battleship Bismarck. He is also responsible for locating PT-109, the boat President John F. Kennedy used during World War II.
"I find a joy in exploration, and I enjoy getting people excited about what lies ahead, because so much is unexplored," Ballard said.
Ballard discussed his discovery of famous shipwrecks, including the Titanic and the U.S.S. Yorktown, and the questions the discoveries tend to spark.
"People always ask me how I know I found the right ship," he said. "In this case, it said 'Yorktown' on the stern."
Throughout the lecture, Ballard kept the audience engaged with lighthearted quips and anecdotes about his expeditions. He once preserved a tube worm specimen, the only life form on earth that can exist without photosynthesis, in a vat of some of the crew's prized liquor stash.
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