RMS Titanic of the sinking, photos were released showing possible human remains resting on the ocean floor. The photos, taken by Robert Ballard during an expedition led by NOAA in 2004, show a boot and a coat close to "Titanic"'s stern which experts called "compelling evidence" that it is the spot where somebody came to rest, and that human remains could be buried in the sediment beneath them. The wreck of the "Titanic" falls under the scope of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. This means that all states party to the convention will prohibit the
Wreck of the RMS Titanic "Titanic". As Harris/Grimm's unsuccessful efforts had taken more than forty days, Ballard decided that extra help would be needed. He approached the French national oceanographic agency, IFREMER, with which Woods Hole had previously collaborated. The agency had recently developed a high-resolution side-scan sonar called SAR and agreed to send a research vessel, "Le Suroît", to survey the sea bed in the area where "Titanic" was believed to lie. The idea was for the French to use the sonar to find likely targets, and then for the Americans to use "Argo" to check out the targets and hopefully confirm whether they