Your Questions for Ocean Explorer Bob Ballard

Comments

1. Mr. Richard Stoico

   BOSTON, MASS

   January 30, 4:36 pm

   I am doing a Study om a missing Ship that was sunk on 3/1/17 The American Ship AZTEC CARGO that was sunk off the coast of FRANCE (USHANT) LOCATION 48.20N 0600W. That had a cargo worth about $500.000 at trhe time it isnt much by todays standards it only hah a cargo of copper, steel,lumber,machinery & chemicals. My question is was it ever found and did it ever have anything different done to it, such as any military armerment on it. This information would be very helpful. THANKS VERY MUCH

2. ed bleakney

   enfield

   April 14, 2012, 1:50 am

   http://maps.google.com/maps hl=en&ll=27.169444,-79.143233&spn=0.025772,0.033088&t=h&z=15
   found this while looking at satilite pictures of grand banks
   this maybe be possible shuttle remains under water /found it 3 days ago while looking sunken treasure ship off Grand Bahamas outer reef area /look like shuttle nose and main body and main engines under water, 100miles east of Jupiter Florida on /50 miles northwest of Grand bahamas it looks much bigger in this satilite phote than it should be or scale on google maps is wrong.
   its missing wings,main hanger doors and upper rear tail section from view in this picture.
   two other darker item look like engine or maybe what was in cargo by near by,

   Also there is a impact crater of object to south east look for darker spot in sand with 5 rings around it,may not be related to it but there to close to rule that out

   My heart goes out to family member if that is what is underwater there

   Thank you ed bleakney
   PS i want credit for finding this if its the shuttle,its in there right area if it is the shuttle /taking upper level winds into crash zone on that day, i just found this by accident looking for other ship wrecks

   please resond proptly

   thanks Ed Bleakney 197green manor road Enfield Ct

3. David Quinlan

   Homer, New York

   April 1, 2012, 10:51 am

   My father was on board the USS Curtiss at Pearl Harbor during the attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy Dec 7th 1941. They had just returned from bringing civilians out to Wake Island to build an airstrip for the Marines some 1900 miles east of Pearl. That Friday they returned to Pearl and refilled with 187,000 gallons of aviation fuel. While it was really great to have the wreck of the sub discovered which was fired upon and struck by the USS Ward. The report of “Secrets of Pearl Harbor” didn’t go far enough. My father was at his battle stsation on the bow of the USS CURTISS on number one five inch gun when the second sub surfaced perpendicular to his ship. That Imperial Japanese two man sub was hit initially by the USS Curtiss which also put a five inch shell through the subs conning tower which investigators for the Navy said probably facilitated it firing and missing the USS CURTISS bow by less than fifteen feet! Photos show the sub after the ramming and depth charges by the USS Monaghan with a neat hole through it conning tower. My father said the fuse for the projectile never exploded but rather went straight through the conning tower. Gun placement number four was able to fire its five inch gun at it. The sub also suffered from fifty caliber machine gun fire from the USS CURTISS. They lost 29 men during the attack yet downed three planes and helped take out that submarine which was never fully explained by the historian.
   Sincerely,
   David Quinlan

4. Audrey Diffley

   Bridgewater, NJ

   March 21, 2012, 8:10 pm

   Dr. Ballard,

   I have followed your work for years and admire your professionalism. Have you ever wished that you or
   your expedition had claimed salvage rights to
   Titanic after your discovery ? Considering the
   exploitation of the wreck in later years, I
   feel that such an action would have preserved
   the site. Thank you for your achievements and
   the great adventures !

   initial voyage

5. Michael V. Caldwell

   Coarsegold CA

   January 27, 2012, 12:49 pm

   Bob,
   It WILL Take Someone With Your Clout To Launch This Idea ! !

   This morning while watching the news about the oil spill life damage and the message about lifting the oil drilling band I thought of a New Idea that you may want to consider, what if you make a mandatory oil drilling law that requires ALL Oil Drilling Companies to Re-Grow Ocean Life and Re-Populate Fish Life.

   Similar to what the Requirements are when Loggers Cut Our Forest Down, the Only difference would be this could be done in our Oceans ! ! !

   Here is one idea of how this could work; Current example Make BP grow new Kelp beds and new fish life & more; in a designated controlled area in the ocean or on land. I did send a similar idea to the environment department that they liked and posted on their site I will pull that up and copy and paste it to this email, I thought of that idea before the BP Oil Spill, but now more than ever we need to implement something like this on our Planet to replace the loss of oxygen that we lost and are going to loose from all of our pollution we are creating on our planet.

   Tue, Jan 5, 2010 Michael V. Caldwell Coarsegold CA
   THINKING OUT OF THE BOX FOR AMERICA & THE WORLD ! ! After doing a lot of research on global soil, air and water contamination and reading James Lovelock’s ideas. I believe that I MAY have some very viable solutions to offer in regards to Global Warming that may help the world slow it down and possibly stop further damage, but we will have to act now and it will take Global Team Work to incorporate my ideas immediately to help us. This is my idea and I am going to try and contact James Lovelock to confirm how viable my idea is. I am submitting my idea now even if it needs work because we need to work on this problem 24 hrs a day. 1. start up above ground plankton farms around the globe to grow plankton globally, reason; (plankton is a natural oxygen plant that contains the most oxygen in the world) we can start to incorporate our plankton farms using our current fish hatcheries immediately, fish will love it and it is a win win bigger healthier fish as
   well ! ! 2. EPA challenge to clean up our contaminated soil and grow more food & produce more clean air… a done deal ! ! All we need to do is the following; (my idea will need to be verified by scientist) Mix, Plankton, Ilmenite soil, Peridotite soil and proper fertilizers into our contaminated land, this should clean up the soil and produce the best farming soil as well as adding clean air to our environment in every way and as a bonus Boost the economy by adding more jobs. Why this would work ?? Common sense, the more above Plankton farms the more clean oxygen to the atmosphere. The more green plants we grow including trees the more we can slow down Global Warming, just using common sense. Thank You, Respectfully, Michael V. Caldwell

   Another Idea that I STRONGLY FEEL Needs To Be Done Immediately And If We Use Team Work And Get All Of The Boats and Ships In The Spill Area To start This Procedure Immediately IT WILL MAKE A BIG BIG DIFFERENCE IN OUR OCEAN OXYGEN LEVELS IN THIS AREA ! ! ! ( I have designed and used THESE SIMPLE PVC Plastic Pipes That Have small Holes Drilled In Them and they WORK AWSOME, CHEAPLY & EFFECTIVELY ! !)

   We could make hundreds of these fast and cheaply and all that is needed is an air compressor hooked up to a hose that can be dropped down into the ocean that is hooked on Aerator Plastic capped off at one end PVC Plastic Plumbing Pipe that has several holes drilled in it that make up Aerator Tubes that can be weighted down to hold them in place where needed. ( Imagine How Much Oxygen That We Can Place Back Into Our Oceans If We Do This Just Using The Resources That We Already Have In Place, Our Fishing Fleets & Ships That Are Already In Place )

   Please Pass This On To Whoever Is In Charge And WILL TAKE THIS PROVEN IDEA THAT I KNOW WORKS BECAUSE I HAVE BUILT AND USED THESE UNITS ! ! ( I know that the the above idea is A DROP IN THE BUCKET IDEA OF AERATING THE GIGANTIC OCEAN, but we have to start somewhere and if enough Man Made Oxygen was added to the Ocean it would help and most certainly wouldn’t hurt…Every Rain Storm Starts With A Drop Of Water)

   Thank You, Respectfully, Michael V. Caldwell, Proud American Inventor..Who Is Always Striving To Be Part Of The Solution Using AMERI-CAN-DO Attitude As My Guideline To Follow At All Times.

6. McKenna T

   December 14, 2011, 10:13 am

   Hello Mr. Ballard,
   I’m a National Geographic Young Explorer after traveling on an expedition with Boyd Matson and others to Peru in 2009, and I met you June of this year in Washington D.C. for the annual Nat Geo symposium. Since then you’ve been one of my role models on my journey towards becoming a future traveler and adventurer.

   I would love to learn more about what initially sparked your desire to explore the earth’s wonders, what steps you took during your years in high school and college to accomplish your goals and get you to where you are now, and what advice you might have for youth following in your footsteps? Could you share your childhood story and any tips?

   Thank you!
   McKenna – Future Nat Geo Explorer

7. Pradeep Chatterjee

   India

   December 14, 2011, 2:50 am

   Sir,
   Expect the wreak of RMS Titanic which else famous wreak you have found lying in the ocean bed.

8. Martin Malley

   Omaha, NE

   December 13, 2011, 10:26 pm

   Bob – What caused the sinking of USS Scorpion?

9. Mark Alfredson

   shirley N.Y.

   December 13, 2011, 8:21 pm

   i would love to join you on an expedition

10. Jennifer coffey

    huber heights ohio

    December 13, 2011, 6:30 pm

    Dr. Ballard, I believe you embody the American spirit and you r the quintessential explorer. I was wondering how someone gets the opprutunity to meet u and how someone gets the chance to go on an expedition with you. I have followed your work since 1985 & I have been in awe at your discoveries. I thank u so very much for your time & attention. I look forward to your next great adventure.!!!!

11. Arnar Egilsson

    Iceland

    December 13, 2011, 6:12 pm

    Hello sir
    I’ve watched all your episodes on NGC. I have not only inspired by those but gain a great knowledge. Your work and visions are rare and rewarding. I’ve read one book that you wrote, Archaeological Oceangraphy, which I liked. Although I am not an archaeologist myself, but I´m a professional diver and work sometime with archaeologists to study/search for wrecks and other man made underwater objects. However, our searches we conduct are in very shallow waters.

    I just wanted to thank you and hope you will make more documentarys to give me and others like me inspiration and enjoyment. P.s. to bad that I could not meet you last summer when you were here in Iceland. Maybe you will come again and give me a heads up !!.. Stay safe and thank you.

12. Katrien Forier

    Belgium

    December 13, 2011, 5:36 pm

    Dear Mr Ballard,
    A question I always had is the following: You’re a marine geologist but you seem passionate about finding historic shipwrecks, exploring the site and the history surrounding these ships. Is it a passion you always had or did something trigger it? It seems to me that you combined your passion with the tools a marine geologist has at his disposal?
    Kind regards,
    Katrien

13. Katrien Forier

    Belgium

    December 13, 2011, 5:22 pm

    Dear Mr. Ballard,
    A question I always had is the following: You have a degree in marine geology but are obviously passionate about finding shipwrecks, documenting the scene and about the history surrounding them. Where does this interest in shipwrecks come from? In your work, I suspect you combined the interest you have in history with the tools a marine geologist has at his disposal?

14. muhit

    Bangladesh

    December 13, 2011, 4:57 pm

    Hi Bob
    Is sea level rising beyond our limit ?

15. Richard Gore

    Newcastle, England

    December 13, 2011, 4:27 pm

    Hello Dr Ballard,

    Thankyou for your work.
    I would like to ask, based on your experience, what you believe to be the greatest pressing issue regarding conservation of the worlds oceans and how mankind can help reduce it’s impact and/or help to improve the health of our oceans?

    ps – do you have any English ancestry? my great granfather was a despatch carrier to Scapa Flow during world war one and his name was Captain Joseph Ballard.

    Thanks,

    Richard

16. Assia

    Constantine, Algeria

    December 13, 2011, 3:23 pm

    Hello! I would like to ask you about the main diffrences that you noticed through you experiences between life under water and life on land, and if you will have to choose between the two what will be your choise and why? Have you passed by a very hard time? If yes tell us about . Thanks

17. Dave waterman

    United kingdom

    December 13, 2011, 2:50 pm

    With the impending inevitable collapse of the titanic due to its deterioration is this based equally for the stern and bow or individually? As the bow is in better condition, triangular shape and buried deep enough that its structurally supported, is this impending collapse based on just the stern and that the bow has many more years left Before suffering the same fate?

18. Byron McLaughlin

    Chico Califonia

    December 13, 2011, 2:04 pm

    In your exploration of the Black Sea has there been any plans to map the ancient shore line in an attempt to locate human settlements and possible trade routes leading out from them? In your discovery of the near intact wooden ship I noticed that there was minimal silt build up around the ship. Is silt a problem for locating older artifacts dating back to the flood? Do you have plans for exploration of the area of the Persian Gulf at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates delta? I think it is basically unexplored and has high probability of early settlements when sea levels were lower.

19. Dino Haro

    U.S.A

    December 13, 2011, 1:37 pm

    I would like to learn more about you and current or future expeditions by Volunteering my time aboard the ship. I served in the Marine Corps and spent 2 years of my tour on sea duty aboard the battleship Missouri BB-63 providing security for the weapons systems we had aboard at that time.It would be an awesome opportunity to see first hand what you do and how you do it. I love being out to sea. All I need is an invite! I truly hope to hear back from you on this . Thank you. Semper Fi.

20. @BugZer0

    Southern Africa

    December 13, 2011, 1:36 pm

    Would you be interested in Exploring the OCEAN from Low-Eath-Orbit?

    

21. Ciing, Davin

    Africa

    December 13, 2011, 1:30 pm

    I pledge a dollar toward your fisrt space flight… god-speed

22. Reddy C. Balarbar

    Philippines

    December 13, 2011, 12:30 pm

    How much were you paid for the movie Titanic?

23. Thais Rubiano

    Sao Paulo, Brazil

    December 13, 2011, 12:14 pm

    When leading an expedition/research, you are certainly guiding a group of very talented people. I imagine that in the ocean you live lots of stressful situations. Could you comment on how you deal with the group you travel with and keep them up stimulated to the ventures? It would be also intersting to hear about a situation in the current project since you are coordinating different groups?

24. abdellawi alaa

    tunisia

    December 12, 2011, 12:48 pm

    can we consider the medusa as immortal? the genetic information still the same, just the pahses change.