Wreck of the RMS Titanic the debris field was surveyed in Robert Ballard's 1986 expedition, pairs of shoes were observed lying next to each other on the sea bed. The flesh, bones, and clothes had long since been consumed but the tannin in the shoes' leather had apparently resisted the bacteria, leaving the shoes as the only markers of where a body had once lain. Ballard has suggested that skeletons may remain deep within "Titanic"s hull, such as in the engine rooms or third-class cabins. This has been disputed by scientists, who have estimated that the bodies would have completely disappeared by the early 1940s
Wreck of the RMS Titanic day of the expedition, an object that looked like a propeller was found. Grimm announced on his return to Boston that "Titanic" had been found, but the scientists declined to endorse his identification. In July 1983, Grimm went back a third time with Ryan aboard the research vessel "Robert D. Conrad" to have another look at the "propeller". This time nothing was found and very bad weather brought an early end to the expedition. It later turned out that Sea MARC had actually passed over "Titanic" but had failed to detect it, while Deep Tow passed within of the wreck.