The reason for the lack of bones and skeletons is down to the depth at which the Titanic came to rest. It sits on the ocean seabed at around 3,800 metres and the chemical composition of the water at that depth changes the effect it has on bone. Professor Ballard, who also discovered the wreck of the Bismarck explained how it works to NPR: “The issue you have to deal with is, at depth below about 3,000 feet (914 meters), you pass below what’s called the calcium carbonate compensation depth. And the water in the deep sea is under saturated in calcium carbonate, which is mostly, you know, what bones are made of.

He continued: “For example, on the Titanic and on the Bismarck, those ships are below the calcium carbonate compensation depth, so once the critters eat their flesh and expose the bones, the bones dissolve. Now in the Black Sea, because there’s no critters to eat, the bones should not be exposed. So you should have perfectly mummified fossils.”

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