Visitors to St. John's sit quietly on benches in the park by the harbor and watch the slow return of the boats that went out to look for the Titan submersible.
It's not the happy scene that everyone had hoped for, but rather the city's reality, which is why the crew left.
Just two weeks ago, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a French Titanic expert who had made more than 30 successful dives to the wreckage, and Larry Daley, a local Titanic explorer, drank beer together on board the Titan.
Mr. Daley, who traveled on a trip similar to this one with director James Cameron in 2003, is now lamenting the passing of a friend and mentor. .
With a melancholy smile, Mr. Daley recalled that final encounter and said, "We were just talking about the old times.". "While exploring the Titanic, he lost his life in a place he loved very much. In some ways, it's symbolic. " .
Five people died while aboard the submersible, including Mr. Nargeolet. Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, and Shahzada Dawood were the other three. .
The oldest seaport in North America is in the province of Newfoundland, where a fishing community called St John's is located. Almost everyone the BBC spoke to there said they had lost friends or family at sea. On the harbor side, there was a memorial anchor with roses at the bottom, one for each of the five dead men.
It has been an emotional rollercoaster over the last 24 hours here. The Titan crew's rescue was anticipated as Thursday got off to a bright and sunny start. However, by afternoon, the atmosphere had become gloomy and chilly.
The city of St. John's was shrouded in fog as word of the Titan's "catastrophic implosion" spread throughout the area. .
Kendall McPherson, a traveler passing through the town, told us that the fog "is very fitting, in a way.".
Local artist Patricia Hutton announced from a café with a view of the water, "The Titanic has claimed lives once more.". .
Operators picked up the RMS Titanic's distress call in 1912 from the peak of nearby Signal Hill. According to locals, it seems appropriate that local Coast Guards would have attempted to save the Titan's crew. .
No Newfoundlander would abandon you, Captain John Rogers declared. .
Capt. Rogers, a fifth-generation seaman, said he has seen a lot from the deck of his ship, but nothing quite like this week's rescue operations.
The transition from hope to hopelessness, according to Capt. Rogers, who has taken part in rescue missions, felt regrettably familiar. .
Because of the rich tradition of subsistence fishing in this area, he said, "there is a certain amount of mourning that we feel.". "Taking the Atlantic lightly is a mistake. " .
Even though whale watching trips and iceberg tours are frequent in this area, many locals claim they only recently learned about OceanGate, the company that ran the Titan, and that visitors could take dives to see the wreckage. .
John Michael Lennon, a native of Newfoundland, reportedly felt his heart break as soon as the town learned of the Titan's demise. His fatherly reflections on the passing of Suleman, 19, have persisted. .
He cried and said, "We're going to plant a tree or some trees for Suleman and his generation. "The sea has always given and taken; I come from this place, and my people come from this place. " .
He said the tragedy left him with some unanswered questions. Should taxpayers foot the bill for this kind of recovery mission? What draws people to the sea? Should the Titan have even attempted the journey?
That last query, he admitted, feels more existential. .
In small maritime communities, he claimed, "joy and grief were always communal rights.". .
The town's attention shifts to the grieving families as it waits for the Polar Prince, the ship that transported the Titan, to arrive, along with the local Coast Guard crews that desperately tried to save those on board the submersible. .
According to Mr. Daley, processing his friend's death will take some time.
In his more reflective moments, he said that he will also need to make an effort to balance this tragedy with his love of exploration. But he is certain of one thing: "We will keep exploring; it's in our nature to do so.
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