When you lose something that means a lot to you, especially if it’s sentimental like a camera or a set of old pictures, it can be quite a devastating blow. The only thing to do when that happens is to cut your losses and to do whatever you can to carry on with your life. In the most bizarre of circumstances, these long lost items find their way back to us, and as this story will suggest, that is exactly what happened to someone who thought they would never see their camera (or the pictures on its film) ever again.
Research divers in Canada stumbled onto the old camera and at the time of discovery, it was obvious that it had been on the ocean floor for decades. Discovering the camera itself after such a long time was a strange occurrence, but little did they know at the time that the images would still be preserved after all these years. The photo’s they discovered was surprising and set off a series of investigative work that would try to reunite the snaps with their owner.
Picture This Divers Discover Long Lost Camera With Surprising Images
A Fateful Diving Expedition
The diving team from the Marine Ecology Department and Simon Fraser University in Canada could never have imagined that on the morning of 13 May 2014, thirteen would be their lucky number. The group was headed deep into the ocean as part of a research project studying the waters off’ on the coastline near Vancouver Island.
The action plan for the day was to take notes on wildlife, study kelp forests and exchange information after the session end. This was not meant to be after all, and even when they were heading out on a boat towards deeper, darker waters, they had no idea about the discovery that lay ahead for them that day.
A Fateful Diving Expedition
The Purpose of the Dive
This particular research team wanted to study the variations of sea stars in the local area. Armed with a large group of divers, the idea was to see if they could capture any interesting behaviors as well as having enough resources to efficiently count how many of the species were prevalent here. The researchers hoped to catch a few, in order to study them further back at the lab. One diver was about to get the surprise of a lifetime when in their search for sea stars, something else was about to reveal itself from below the surface. Paired up with his partner, he swam closer to the strange object, not quite able to put his finger on what it is. As he got right up to the object, he realized exactly what it was.
The Purpose Of The Dive
The Mysterious Item
For Beau Doherty and Tella Osler, the discovery would be one they would remember for the rest of their lives. The pair of Simon Fraser University students swam as close to it as possible, signaling to each other that it was something peculiar. As both had made an oath to help remove any trash from the ocean, they agreed that it had to be removed, and in the process, they would be able to get a better idea of what it was.
The first thing they noticed was the wavy strap attached to the object, which was peeking out from the sand. As Beau tugged at it, a lense popped up and immediately he knew what it was. Low and behold, the pair had stumbled onto an old camera of all things, in the midst of various other species, algae and more.
The Mysterious Item
Getting The Whole Team Curious
Once they were above water again, the pair placed the camera in a dive bag and continued on with their research. Their minds raced about who it might have belonged to, and whether there may be a film they could retrieve from inside the device. The question of how the camera had ended up in the bottom of the ocean also plagued their thoughts, as they tried to concentrate on counting starfish.
Once they had wrapped up their expedition, the whole team gathered around this mysterious object, abuzz with curiosity as to who it might have belonged to. Professor Isabelle Cote, who led the expedition, recalled that everyone was intrigued by the find and perhaps even more amazed than they might have been by the starfish themselves.
Getting The Whole Team Curious
Another Professor Weighs In
Once Beau had revealed what he had found to the team, one particular member was more curious than anyone else. Siobhan Gray, Isabelle’s co-professor, had a distinctive glint in her eyes once she had seen it. Siobhan had tagged along that day for the expedition, but her main field of study was not starfish. She was there to focus more on aquatic plant life.
Perhaps because her job required taking so many photographs, she was spellbound when looking at the camera, especially as she saw that some fauna was actually growing on the surface of an electronic device. She asked if she could take back the camera to her lab to study it further, and when she did, she got a whole lot more than she initially bargained for.
Another Professor Weighs In
The Surprising Ecosystem
There was an entire mini-ecosystem living inside and outside of the old camera. While obviously visible when taking a look with the naked eye, upon further inspection under a microscope an entire world of species were revealed. This is any professor’s dream!
Inside of the camera, Siobhan found more algae, a set of brittle stars, and a sea cucumber. Brittle stars are similar to sea stars, just a lot smaller, so ironically, she had some intel to report back that was related to the actual purpose of the expedition that day after all. Would this be the last thing she would discover? Not quite, as another surprise was right around the corner.
The Surprising Ecosystem
The SD Card
It’s easy to assume that a camera that had spent that long underwater would be useless in a sense, but this time around that certainly wasn’t the case. Aside from the microscopic and other discoveries inside and outside of the camera, it had one more trick up its sleeve. The SD (memory) card was still inside the device, and when Siobhan removed it from the camera, it looked to be in a decent condition after all.
Although covered in black algae, there was hope that they might be able to recover some of the data when plugging it into the computer. Perhaps some of the shots had survived, and would give some more insight around where the camera came from, how it got lost, and perhaps even who was looking for it. A shot in the dark, but worth a try for sure.
The SD Card
The Climax
It’s hard to imagine that Siobhan wasn’t shaking with excitement in her lab coat at the thought of the SD card working when she plugged it into the computer. She wondered if she held the key to discovering the secrets behind what can only be referred to as a long-unsolved mystery.
After giving the card a good clean with rubbing alcohol and an earbud. She slotted it into her computer, which was equipped to read SD cards through a built-in port, and as luck would have it, the popup on the computer suggested that it wasn’t corrupt and the files could be downloaded.
The Climax
A Sea of Memories
Siobhan marveled in the fact that the 8GB SD card was still in working order, and after downloading the contents she realized that plenty of pictures and videos had survived. Perhaps these would be the key to returning the camera (and the content) to its rightful owner, who might have been lamenting the day they lost the device.
Naturally apprehensive about scrolling through the personal content of someone else, Siobhan felt like it was the only way to get to the bottom of the mystery, and the only way to get a chance to return the card and camera to its rightful owner. Going through the pictures, she realized that the pictures contained many of the same people at various social functions, dating back to July of 2012.
A Sea Of Memories
Unsure of the Owner
While she was ecstatic at having access to all the pictures, it was hard for Siobhan to distinctively see who the camera itself had belonged to. The owner had of course not been visible, having taken all the pictures themselves. She hoped there would be a bit more clues, but the search had led her to a bit of a dead-end as a result of this.
It was easy to see that the pictures were probably very dear to someone, as a lot of the pictures looked like family portraits. While unsure of how to go about things from here, Siobhan wasn’t one of those people who gave up easily. In turn, she was about to unlock a clue that would make the mystery even easier to solve.
Unsure Of The Owner
Taking To Social Media
Social media might have a lot of drawbacks in terms of productivity and mental health, but when you’re trying to track someone (or something) down, it is one of the most effective tools to get the message out there. After speaking with Isabelle about it, Siobhan decided that the best course of action would be to share some of the photographs online, with hopes that someone would have some clues for them.
Under the #detectives hashtag, the pair started their search and explained exactly how they had come across the images. In a few hours, they had a ton of interaction, shares, and comments. Despite all of this, feedback about the possible owners (or people in the pictures) was limited, and a few days after, the pair of professors had to change their strategy.
Taking To Social Media
Trying An Old School Approach
After realizing that social media wasn’t about to get them what they were looking for, Isabelle and Siobhan thought they would try something completely different. They were not about to give up, and they were going to try whatever it took to get the images back to its rightful owner.
After some deliberation, they decided that printing out a couple of the pictures and posting them up around town might just do the trick. The owner can’t love very far from here, especially considering where the camera was found in the first place. After only a couple of days, someone from the local Coast Guard recognized one of the faces in the pictures. Incredibly, this person had been rescued from a shipwreck a short while earlier.
Trying An Old School Approach
The Connecting Link
The man in these pictures was Paul Burgoyne, a Vancouver local. He had lost his boat back in 2012 after it sank around the area where the camera had been discovered in the first place. After connecting with the professors, the Coast Guard office had done some digging of his own, finding Paul’s phone number and getting in touch with him about the discovery.
The professors were thrilled, as it meant that they had not only tracked down the owner of the pictures, but they now had an opportunity to return the snaps to him. Their hard work had paid off. As it turns out, the story didn’t end right there. Another twist was around the corner.
The Connecting Link
The First Interaction
Paul gave Siobhan a call about her discovery in May of 2014, and she recalls that he was absolutely thrilled about the discovery that the research team had made. He could hardly believe that after all this time, it had been tracked down and that there were still images and videos on the memory card. As it turned out, the camera had meant a great deal to him too.
Paul mentioned to Siobhan that he was laughing a lot about just what a lucky man he was. Telling them more about his story, the professor realized that the photos were very important to him, especially as the last photos that had been taken were of a special occasion that held such a great deal of sentimental value to his entire family.
The First Interaction
Remembering His Mom
As it turns out, Paul was especially grateful as a lot of the photos on the card had captured pictures from the day him and his family scattered the ashes of his late mother. At the time of his accident, losing the camera was even harder because of this, as he knew he could never retrieve those memories again. Aside from this, there were also some incredible scuba diving and snorkeling photos, which were near and dear to his heart.
Siobhan was very curious about how Paul had gone on to lose his camera, and enquired with him about the details surrounding his boat accident. As she discovered, the camera fell to the bottom of the ocean in the most difficult and trying of circumstances any of us could face in our lives.
Remembering His Mom
Disaster at Sea
He told her exactly what happened, and that his story dates back to July 20th in 2012. At the time, Paul was sailing towards his home in Tahsis in British Columbia. Things can quickly take a turn when you’re out on the open sea, which he learned all too well by the events of that day.
Paul didn’t have any problems for a majority of the trip, and he was enjoying the calm ocean waters and clear skies. A surprising turn of the weather would result in everything going south, with Paul eating his earlier thoughts that nothing could be better than being out on the open sea that day.
Disaster At Sea
Colliding With Rocks
His last day on the trip was seemingly going to be smooth sailing, but that afternoon he was on a collision course with an out-of-the-blue thunderstorm. Over the span of just a few minutes, Paul came face to face with his biggest nightmare, fighting for survival.
As the seas turned more turbulent, Paul relied on his skills and experience to carry him through. He could do nothing about the oncoming rocks that the boat would crash into mid-storm, and in the panic of the moment, Paul left the boat and all his possessions (including the camera), only to watch it sink down into the depths right in front of him.
Colliding With Rocks
Rescued By The Coast Guard
Once the boat had hit the rocks, the hull was smashed to pieces and it would be only a few minutes before it was completely immersed in water. Watching this, Paul couldn’t help but panic as he was immersed in the icy waters of the sea. Aware that hypothermia could kill him in no time, he wondered whether he would make it out alive at all.
A self-professed lucky man, Paul was spotted by others nearby and the Coast Guard was called. He spent six hours in the water waiting to be rescued, and by the time he was brought back to shore, he needed immediate medical attention. His friends and family rallied behind him during his stint in hospital, watching him recover and thankful that he had made it through it
Rescued By The Coast Guard
A Community Mobilized
The following morning, local media ran the story of his rescue, referencing the fact that he had lost all his belongings in the process. The community came together in a big way to help him out, sending cards, food and other items so they can help him get back on his feet. A local electronics store even went as far as to replace his camera and equipment free of charge.
Support aside, Paul remained heartbroken that he had lost so much in the space of a few minutes. He thought a lot about the camera and the memory card of pictures from his mother’s memorial. He never thought he would see the pictures in his life again.
A Community Mobilized
Paul’s Relationship With The Coast Guard
Who would have thought that Paul would not only be rescued by the Coast Guard, but that one of their team would be the person to call him after spotting him on a picture plastered around the city? This bizarre turn of events would eventually reunite him with his beloved photographs years later, and would even allow him to hold his trusty old camera again after it had spent so long being a home for various creatures underwater.
While he admits that he had a bout of depression after the ship sank, Paul was anything but sad when he found out that he would be seeing his pictures again. All the memories could never be replaced, and he longed to have the final memory of his mother with him again, which he hoped to share with his friends and family after the SD card returned to him once and for all.
Pauls Relationship With The Coast Guard
Getting The Camera Back
It’s hard not to imagine how excited Paul must have been when he eventually got his hands on the camera again, and looking back, he recalled that he was in shock when he found out that it was going to happen. The incident even helped him to gain a new appreciation for electronics as a whole. Citing the longevity of his memory card, he said that he would be thinking twice about replacing (or throwing away) electronics every two years or so.
Today, the pictures remind him that he is a lucky man, and that he should show gratitude for everything he has. As it ended up, he got a brand new camera anyway, and now he had the pictures and the old camera back. In a strange way, he now had more than he had before the ship went down. Life is filled with these bizarre coincidences that can happen to any of us. As the next story illustrates, this wasn’t the first time a camera had made its way back to its owner after many years…
Getting The Camera Back
Another Long Lost Camera
Halfway around the world in Taiwan, another camera was discovered in the ocean. In this particular case, it wasn’t found underwater, but it ended up being washed up on the ocean shore. Barnacles covered the outer shell so it looked anything like it did when it first hit the ocean floor. In a strange coincidence to the story in Canada, the camera was also fairly intact, even though it had gone through an interesting journey.
This time, the camera had a waterproof case around it, which made it a little easier to preserve. Naturally, images were recovered from it, and while it was a group of schoolchildren who stumbled onto it on the shore, their teacher would be responsible for making sure that it got back to its original owner.
Another Long Lost Camera
This Is Not a Rock
After one of his students brought the strange item to him, teacher Park Lee wasn’t quite sure what to do. At first sight , it looked like a rock, but upon closer inspection, he was sure that it was a camera covered in barnacles. A group gathered around the discovery, and everyone thought that the camera must be broken. After finding a button to open the case, they managed to pry it open, and incredibly, not a drop of water had touched the piece of equipment.
After trying to turn the camera on, the device powered up and to the astonishment of the crowd, it was still charged up. That’s when Park decided that he was going to take it back to school with him, in order to begin the search for its rightful owner.
This Is Not A Rock
Curious About The Pictures
After returning to school, Mr. Lee discussed the find with his students, and together they deliberated whether they should take a look at the pictures on the device. A couple of the children thought they had “earned” the camera and asked about keeping it to themselves! Others were interested in trying to find the owner. It took some time, but together they came to a solution that seemed to work for everyone.
As in the previous story, everyone agreed that they needed to take a look at the pictures to try to find the rightful owner. There were mixed feelings about whether it was ethical to do so, but as with the professor duo in Canada, they knew they had no other option of tracking down the person who lost the camera without following the clues to get to them.
Curious About The Pictures
Turning To Social Media Too
After going through the pictures, an essential clue to the puzzle came to light. A lot of the photographs were images from Japan, which helped to narrow down their search, albeit only somewhat. Park decided that he would share a couple of the images on Facebook, captioning them in both Chinese and Japanese to help increase the reach.
While the professors in Canada had no luck trying this route, for Park and his students this would be a successful method to find the person who took the pictures. After only a couple of hours, his post had been shared thousands of times, going viral and helping to spread the message about their incredible discovery from earlier that day.
Turning To Social Media Too
100 000 Shares on Social Media
Park and his students could never have imagined that his social media post would garner that much attention, and in the span of just a couple of days, it had well over 50 000 comments and 100 000 shares! Contrary to what happened in Canada, this was enough to track down the owner of the camera and helped shorten the search in a big way.
Once the post hit international waters, Park received an inbox message from the owner of the camera, diver Serina Tsubakihara. When he told his students about this twist of events, they were incredibly excited to get in touch with her and to have a moment where they could return the item to her.
100 000 Shares On Social Media
More About The Owner of the Camera
Japanese student Serina Tsubakihara spoke to the BBC after the story started to do it’s rounds through the international media. She said that she was shocked that the camera had turned up, and was tremendously thankful to Mr. Lee and his students for their bid to return it to her. As it turns out, the camera held a very special place in her heart.
Serina first found out about the discovery after a friend told her about the post, and sent her the pictures. Living and studying all the way over in Japan, she couldn’t believe that she was looking at the pictures of her recent diving vacation. It wouldn’t be long before she found herself facing Park and his students, in order to tell the story of how the camera got lost in the first place.
More About The Owner Of The Camera
How Serina Lost The Camera
Talking to the young students, Serina mentioned that she had been on vacation in Okinawa, about 150 miles from Taiwan, when she had misplaced her camera. She was scuba diving, and had dropped her camera when one of her friends ran out of air and needed her assistance. As it turned out, just like in the previous story from Canada, the camera had vanished from a life-threatening situation.
The incident happened back in 2015, and Serina was sure she would never see the device ever again. As it turns out, she was wrong, and the camera found its way back to the shore after a journey of its own. Thanks to the diving case, it was well protected and survived a journey that was hundreds of miles in the ocean current.
How Serina Lost The Camera
A Sense of Gratitude
It had been three long years since Serina had parted with her beloved camera, and there was no way she could have predicted that it would wash up in Taiwan and be found by someone kind enough to return it to her. She had felt depressed after losing her precious memories, and was overcome with a sense of gratitude for this bizarre twist of fate that reunited her with her pictures again.
In the time since being reunited with the camera, Serina looks at the photo’s more regularly, and remembers what was a great vacation, as well as the amazing story attached to her camera being returned to her. Eternally thankful to Park and his class, she was keen to do something special for them to show her appreciation.
A Sense Of Gratitude
Returning To Taiwan
Any ordinary person might have asked for the photos by email, but Serina was determined to meet with the class face-to-face. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence, and wrapping up the story on a high note was something she felt a responsibility to do. The return journey had nothing to do with wanting to get her camera back, as she was more focused about her precious memories, and on showing thanks to the students.
The reunion would eventually happen and ironically, be captured with some pictures taken using the camera itself. Shortly after, everyone assumed that it was all over, and life had to go on. Little did they know that Serina had a special surprise waiting for the children.
Returning To Taiwan
A Special Surprise
Serina returned to Taiwan on a tight budget, considering she was a student. Her trip had to be pushed back by a couple of months initially after she spoke with Park because she needed some time to save up for the ticket. She wasn’t able to bring them any gifts when she arrived in Taiwan, but she had another trick up her sleeve.
Heading back home, she continued to think about ways she could surprise the class. Park had told her that they were due to graduate in six months, so she had an out of the box idea to help make the moment all the more special and memorable for them.
A Special Surprise
Graduation Day
Serina’s plan was to surprise the class during their third-grade graduation, this time without any notice. She planned and saved in order to buy them all gifts, including toys, candy and thank you cards. The local media caught wind of the story, reporting that the children were ecstatic to see their old friend. As it turns out, she had made a big impression on the children overall.
Nowadays, Serina is still a diver and plans on returning to Taiwan when this particular class graduates from middle school in the near future. While she’s never discovering anything lost or missing on one of her dives, she will never forget the story of her own camera, which she still actively uses to capture special moments on vacation, and on dives when she goes on holiday.
Graduation Day
Another Fascinating Discovery
Years and years before either an incredible story of underwater camera discoveries, pharaohs ruled Egypt and Sudan. Once these leaders died, they were entombed in massive pyramids, which have become some of the most prolific modern archeological sites to date. It’s easy to assume that we know a lot about these tombs today, but the fact of the matter is that they are still shrouded in mystery.
Over two thousand years later, a discovery by Pearce Creasman would shed some more light about how these tombs operated. An underwater archeologist, he was exploring a pyramid partially submerged underwater when he stumbled onto one of the most significant and important historical discoveries of all time.
Another Fascinating Discovery
Early Preparations For The Dive
Long before Pearce made his startling discovery, Kristin Romey had been searching for the tomb of Nastasen, a pharaoh of Nubia. Her goal was to find his grave, which would likely give more insight into how the ancient civilization of Kush lived, especially as they were once very prominent and influential in much of the northern part of Africa.
Kristin would eventually come to find her answer, thanks to the discovery of her colleague, Pearce. A venture into an unexplored pyramid on the border of Sudan and Egypt would mark the discovery of a lifetime, which gave archeologists so much intel for their own research studies and published work.
Early Preparations For The Dive
Searching With Intent
Many people believed that Nastasen’s tomb was directly underneath a pyramid in the Nuri complex. The fact that it had never been explored was mostly due to the fact that it was completely submerged in water. Exploring a site like this would require special training and underwater technology, which at the time was not advanced like today . Pearce would be the first person to explore these depths, and what he would eventually find was an incredible surprise to Kristin and other archeologists around the world.
Searching With Intent