Wreck of the RMS Titanic research. The stern section, which had previously received relatively little attention from explorers, was specifically targeted for analysis. The microbial colonies aboard "Titanic" were also a key focus of investigation. The second expedition, from 27 May – 12 June 2004, saw the return of Robert Ballard to "Titanic" nearly 20 years after he discovered it. The expedition spent 11 days on the wreck, carrying out high-resolution mapping using video and stereoscopic still images. 2005 saw two expeditions to the "Titanic". James Cameron returned for the third and last time to film "Last Mysteries of the Titanic". Another expedition searched for
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