[cracrecry]

>What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing?

In this particular story: Those guys are pioneers, they are doing something almost nobody has done before, like going deep down 4 kilometres under the surface of the ocean.

This takes guts. And people admire those that have the guts. It is primal instinct, as the people that take risks and survive usually makes the tribe or society improve.

Things that are routine today like planes flying without crashing down or reusable rockets or going to the moon were at some time extremely risky.

[evgen]

> Those guys are pioneers, they are doing something almost nobody has done before, like going deep down 4 kilometres under the surface of the ocean.

They are rich tourists going down to look at a famous shipwreck, the same as hundreds of actual professionals have done. Much like the rich tourists who are mostly carried up Everest this does not take guts or ability, it takes a fat wallet and nothing more. Actually, it probably takes more ego than intelligence if you get into the craft they took down now that we have learned more about its potential safety flaws.

The nature of the event is why we are paying attention. The people trapped and how it happened is icing on the cake, but we would all still be watching if it was the Alvin submersible and some university researchers inside. To be honest we would probably care more if it was actual professionals who were at risk doing work to expand human knowledge instead of a tourist day-trip; I certainly would actually care about the outcome in that case, while I can't be bothered to care one way or the other if this particular group of tourists lives or dies.

[medvezhenok]

*Some of them are rich tourists. Paul-Henri Nargeolet is one of the people on board, has done more than 30 dives to the site since the 1980s, technically owns the rights to the ship, was in the French Navy for 20+ years, and has recovered artifacts from the site - only person to do so.

Not quite fair to call him a tourist.

[Ekaros]

Taxi driver in that case? Someone paid to take rich people around...

[medvezhenok]

He also has a net worth of 1.5 billion dollars.

You can be both rich and the foremost world expert on the Titanic at the same time.

[gr8flyer1011]

I would think he would be sending Morse code, being a Navy man.

[GvSAQS5G2NKJ]

I was wondering about that. This banging the rescue teams have been picking up, can sonar or whatever they're using pick it up clearly enough to decode a message? Would they even know what to send?