Have you ever lost anything at sea? Perhaps a watch, a wallet, or maybe even a stuffed animal? Well, one day, a team of Canadian divers discovered something of grave importance lying on the seafloor: a camera. After cracking the camera open, the team was shocked to the core to see what images were stored in the memory card. Continue reading to learn what the team of researchers did!
1. An Underwater Adventure
On May 13, 2014, a team of divers from the Marine Ecology Lab at Simon Fraser University in BC were preparing to get their feet wet. Their plan was to conduct research off the coasts of Bamfield to take notes of the local aquatic wildlife. It was an in-and-out plan—record their observations, take pictures, have a fun time doing so, then go back home. However, little did they know, their underwater adventure would be anything but normal.
2. Looking for Starfish
The team’s goal was to dive into the cold depths along the Bamfield coast to see what sort of starfish species called the area home. They were also planning on capturing a few live specimens to take them back to their lab for further studies, but when they got to the bottom of the sea, something caught the eyes of two of the divers. If you know anything about nature, it’s that very rarely do you find straight lines in the wild. The diver inspected the object more closely to see what it was.
3. Beau and Tella
Beau Doherty and Tella Osler were postgrad students at Simon Fraser University. They were the first students to discover the mysterious object with straight edges on the seafloor. At first, they thought what anybody else would think: someone tossed a piece of garbage overboard that happened to settle in their research spot. Upon closer inspection, there was a strap fixed onto the object, so Beau tugged and tugged until it was released from the seafloor. Immediately, the two divers identified what it was: a camera.
4. Who Does It Belong to?
The camera had been there for quite some time, the team deduced by its rusty exterior. Beau placed it in his bag for safekeeping, and the team continued their research undisturbed. However, in the back of Beau’s mind, he couldn’t figure out how a camera had gotten there. Obviously, it was lost as nobody would willingly toss a piece of technology like this overboard. After they had completed their task, Beau showed the camera to his professor, Isabelle Cote. She, along with the rest of the team, was curious to see what the camera had seen.
5. A Shocking Discovery
Professor Cote’s colleague, Professor Siobhan Gray, was particularly interested in the camera. Although Professor Gray tagged along, her main goal wasn’t to study starfish with the other crew members; she was there specifically to take samples of the underwater plant life in that region to study back at her lab. What made her extremely curious about the camera was seeing fauna growing on its surface. When she took the camera back to her lab, she was in for a shock of a lifetime.
6. An Artificial Habitat
Back on dry land, Professor Gray took the camera to her lab and began her attempts to open it up. When she did, she was shocked to discover a healthy patch of algae growing in its exterior. Furthermore, she discovered two juvenile starfish and a sea cucumber. It appears that Mother Nature is able to adapt to whatever conditions it’s forced upon, whether it’s natural disasters or lost pieces of technology.
7. Eight Gigs of Memories
Many people would assume that the camera had been lost for quite some time from its crusty exterior. In this case, those people would be right. The camera, as it seemed to the professor, was completely kaput. However, upon further examination, she found that the memory slot contained an 8GB card that appeared to be in salvageable shape. Although the card was covered from edge to edge in black algae, she still had to see if the card contained anything of importance.
8. Checking the Contents
When Professor Gray discovered the SD card almost fully intact, she became further excited about the shocking find. Did the card store lost memories of a sailor at sea? Was the owner also a researcher who documented precious data, only to lose his or her hard work through whatever circumstance? The professor had to know, so she cleaned the card as best as she could. Then, when she popped the card into her computer, she was taken aback that the card actually worked!
9. Lost Memories
Professor Gray felt another wave of excitement as her computer had succeeded in opening the memory card. Perhaps if any images were still stored, she could locate the rightful owner and return it to him or her. She was reluctant to view the personal images without consent, but she figured that she couldn’t do anything without at least taking a look. Against all odds, all of the images and videos taken by the previous owner were still stored in the card, so at least she had a lead on how to identify who owned the camera. All of the pictures were dated back to July 30, 2012—two years earlier!
10. Uncertainty
The professor was happy to learn that she had a lead. However, she stated that she felt incredibly guilty about viewing personal images and might have come across something the owner wouldn’t want anyone to see. Still, as she scrolled through the pictures, she knew what she had to do: identify the owner and attempt to return the camera to him. Professor Gray had no idea how to go about doing so, but luckily, she wasn’t the only brilliant mind in her department.
11. The Search Begins
Professor Gray consulted her work colleague, Professor Cote, about how to return the camera to the previous owner. Professor Cote was more than willing to help in any way she could, and she figured the best thing they could do without having a name is to post the images on social media. The pair went to Twitter and began posting the images with the hashtag #detectives to see if it would draw enough attention to bring them the results they were looking for. Sadly, despite their efforts, the internet could not produce a name. The pair decided to switch strategies and instead…
12. Post Flyers
After a couple of days and interacting with friendly yet similarly clueless internet users, the pair of detectives decided that they weren't going to go anywhere with Twitter. They elected to try something new, which is odd since they were actually using a more classical technique, namely, posting flyers. The professors, along with a number of helpful divers who were present on that fateful day the camera was found, printed up several hundred flyers and began posting them everywhere. As fate would have it, a local coast guard had seen the flyer and immediately knew who the photo belonged to. The coast guard had saved him not so long ago from disaster.
13. Paul Burgoyne
The helpful coast guard was able to give a name to the professors: Mr. Paul Burgoyne, a Vancouver local. Back in 2012, Paul had taken his boat out, which subsequently sank due to unfortunate circumstances. After the professors had met with the coast guard, they were sure that this man was telling the absolute truth. They subsequently handed over the camera and let him take over their mission to return a long-lost item.
14. Unbelievable Luck
In May 2014, Professor Gray, thinking that the mystery was solved, was in for another surprise. She received a phone call from someone claiming to be Paul Burgoyne, the owner of the lost camera. The person on the other end was thrilled to learn from the coast guard that his camera had been discovered. There were precious memories on that memory card that he thought were gone forever. While spending a few moments speaking with one another about the unbelievably lucky find, Paul disclosed the entire story of what the camera meant to him and how it became lost.
15. Important Family Moments
Paul was incredibly thankful that his camera had been discovered. He was also quite stunned to learn that the memory card was still fully functional after two years on the seabed and with aquatic life claiming the plastic object as their new home. Paul had told the professor that the pictures captured by the camera meant the world to him; a majority of the photos were taken when he and his family went out the scatter the ashes of his dearly departed mother. The rest of the photos contained memories of a particularly thrilling adventure at sea.
16. Hell Breaks Loose
In July 2012, Paul had gone sailing to Tahsis, BC, to visit his summer home. As anyone who’s been at sea knows, Mother Nature is a harsh mistress, and her temper can go from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye. Initially, the weather was perfect for sailing, but Paul recalled the exact moment when all hell broke loose.
17. Lost at Sea
Nearing the end of his journey, Paul’s ship had just exited relatively clear, calm waters, only to end up in the middle of a harsh storm. With the sea raging around him, Paul tried to remain as calm as possible and navigate to calmer waters. He’s an experienced sailor, but nothing had prepared him for the treacherous waves that were battering his vessel. To make matters worse, his ship was venturing into shallow waters with unseen rocks just below. Out of sheer panic, Paul abandoned ship, leaving everything, including his camera, on board.
18. Ship in Tatters
After Paul had jumped from his ship, he saw as it crashed against the tremendous rocks, splitting the hull into millions of pieces before quickly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He was stunned that the waters had turned against him when mere moments ago, it was all smooth sailing. Then the frightening reality dawned on him: Paul was alone in the freezing water with no means of contacting the coast guard. He thought then and there that his life was over.
19. Second Chances
Understandably, Paul was frightened for his life. He thought it was all over—he was slowly freezing, his arms were growing tired, and he had no idea in which direction would lead him to safety. But as fate would have it, he wasn’t far from the coast, and patrons in a nearby establishment had seen the shipwreck from a distance. They contacted the coast guard and alerted them that a ship had gone under. Paul was stranded in the middle of the ocean for six hours before help had arrived.
20. Missing His Camera
That morning he was saved, he was driven straight to the hospital. News spread of his disastrous accident and he was swarmed with cards of well-wishes from everybody, including those he didn’t even know. Paul thanked his lucky stars that he was still alive, yet he couldn’t help but feel at a loss for everything that went down with his ship. No matter was anyone had said, he had lost a sizable chunk of precious memories inside of that camera.
21. A Lucky Turn of Events
To learn that his camera wasn't just found but that the memory card contained all of his seemingly lost memories was astounding news for the man who was stuck at sea. Paul had made it out alive, and his photos were back in his hands once again. Out of everything he lost at sea, that camera was the most valued possession, and he was in tears to see that his long-lost memories in JPEG format were with him once again.
22. More than Once
You might think that such a story is a once in a lifetime event, but you’d be surprised. Paul wasn’t the only person to have lost a camera at sea only to have it returned to him years later. Once, along a beach in Taiwan, a group of young students had discovered a camera completely covered in barnacles. What surprised the group the most was that the camera was in perfect working order, even after who-knows-how-long it spent on the bottom of the ocean.
23. Finding Another Camera
An 11-year-old student had stumbled across the camera while walking along the coast with his classmates. At first, he didn’t know what he was looking at—he thought it was a rock with sharp barnacles adhered to its exterior—but upon closer inspection, he noticed a lens and buttons. His teacher, Mr. Park Lee, wasn’t sure what to do with it. He thought the camera was totaled, but amazingly, not a single drop of moisture had penetrated its waterproof shell. Amazing.
24. Taking a Look
When they returned to school, the curious group of students wanted to take a look at the camera’s contents. Mr. Lee was also curious as to what he’d find, but he also didn’t want to expose his students to images that would be inappropriate for their age. Like Professors Cote and Gray, Mr. Lee wanted to return the camera to its rightful owner, but he didn’t know what steps to take.
25. Social Media to the Rescue
After viewing the pictures and deeming them safe for all eyes, Mr. Lee consulted his students as to how he could return the camera and its images to its rightful owner. Kids these days, they know everything about everything. They had the brilliant idea of posting the images on social media and requested help from internet strangers to identify the people in the pictures.
26. Viral
While Mr. Lee and his class were hopeful that they might identify the owner, they weren’t sure how long it would take. Apparently, it didn’t take long for their social media post to gain traction, and it went viral overnight! The photos were shared over 100,000 times on Facebook, and just a few days after going viral, Mr. Lee received a private message from somebody named Serina Tsubakihara. She claimed to be the diver in those images and that she had lost the camera a while back.
27. Serina Tsubakihara
Serina Tsubakihara was taken aback by how popular the social media post had gone, and she was even more surprised to see that her camera was in complete working order. Like Paul Burgoyne, she had lost the camera due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Somehow, the camera was taken by the waves and made it to the coast of Taiwan around 150 miles away!
28. Grateful
Serina was excited to hear that her camera had survived the 150-mile journey across shark-infested waters and made it to the shores of a nearby country. Never did she think that her camera would be found, much less remain fully intact. Back when the story emerged, Serina said that she looks at those pictures every day to remind herself how fortunate she is to have recovered precious memories that were previously taken by Nature.
29. Visiting Taiwan
Serina could have easily asked Mr. Lee and his class to return the camera by mail or have them send the pictures in an email attachment. However, Serina wanted to show her appreciation to the class in person, so she packed up and bought a ticket to Taiwan. There, she visited the class, took some photos, and created new memories with complete strangers who had gone the extra 150 miles to return a long-lost camera.
30. A Surprise for Graduation
Serina’s surprise for the class didn’t end there. When they graduated from that year, Serina returned to Taiwan unannounced and dropped by the school to show her appreciation once more for their finding. This time, she packed lovely gifts, snacks, toys, and thank-you cards that she gave to every student to show her gratitude.
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