Photograph courtesy Premier Exhibitions, Inc. and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in a new picture released Wednesday-the 25th anniversary of the rediscovery of the R.M.S. Titanic-rust "icicles" plague bow railings and anchor equipment on the 2.4-mile-deep (3.8-kilometer-deep) shipwreck. This and other images of Titanic in late August are among the first results of the ongoing Expedition Titanic. Its goals: to use acoustic imaging, sonar, and 3-D video to virtually preserve Titanic in its current state and to help determine just how far gone the shipwreck is and how long it might last.

Due to recent hurricane activity, the expedition crew is currently docked in St. John's, Newfoundland (map), some 350 miles (560 kilometers) from Titanic's North Atlantic resting place-but the team is eager to get back to work.

"What we have witnessed, so far, has been nothing but extraordinary," Chris Davino, CEO of Premier Exhibitions, Inc., said in a press statement. "We are anxious to return to the site and continue this groundbreaking expedition," added Davino, whose company's RMS Titanic, Inc., division organized the expedition with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

-With reporting by Brian Handwerk