Sunken German U-boat in Gulf of Mexico being mapped, studied

The location of the downed German sub U-166 has been known for years. Now man who discovered the Titanic, Robert Ballard, hopes to provide new information.

Ballard and his team are using the Exploration Vessel Nautilus to map the sub and some of the dozens of American ships sent to the bottom during the war.

"Many souls were lost on these wrecks and others," Ballard told the Houston Chronicle. "But now they are teeming with corals and undersea creatures. It's the amazing tapestry of life."

The Sun Herald says an expedition member told them "surveys of the area will help our archaeologists better understand what happened and how she sunk."

The work is scheduled to last four months and is being partly funded by BP oil spill reparations.

Follow the research on their live stream here.

More here.