A bottle thrown into the sea by a 10-year-old child on Cape Cod in Massachusetts in 1997 was answered 25 years later after it was found more than 3,300 miles away by a French fisherman.
“We received an internal envelope addressed to this student, Ben, and the secretaries were looking everywhere for him. They couldn’t find this fifth grader,” Brandy Clifford, assistant principal at Oak Ridge School in Sandwich, Massachusetts, told NBC10 Boston last Wednesday.
When the school opened the envelope intended for Ben Lyons, a former student who had studied at the institution more than 25 years earlier, she realized the “treasure” she held in her hands: the answer of a French fisherman , which was attached to a letter According to American media, it was thrown into the sea in 1997.
“They felt like they had found a treasure when they saw a letter from this gentleman from France, then this letter from 1997,” the director continued.
The bottle had been thrown into the water from Cape Cod as part of a scientific project on ocean currents.
In it, the student asked the person who received the contents to return the letter and answered a few questions.
“Where did you find the bottle? What condition is she in? If you can, please complete the questions and send them back to me. “Thanks, Ben,” the deleted paper reads.
26-YEAR-OLD MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: Thanks to time, tides and a retired fisherman more than 3,300 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, Ben, now in his 30s, is getting a response to the questions in his letter. https://t.co/JUIQTydZz1
— NBC10 Boston (@NBC10Boston) November 9, 2023
The answer came from a French fisherman, Hubert Eriau, 71, who said he found the letter on August 19 on the beaches of Sables-d’Olonne on the west coast of France while collecting trash there, French media had ” Ouest France” reports.
“There were a few mussels stuck there,” said the fisherman.
If NBC10 Boston had managed to track down Ben Lyons — now in his 30s — the man would not have been able to comment because of his job.
“It’s great that children can learn about oceans and currents. Show how small the world is. “We had the pleasure of reading the various articles and the interest they aroused,” his family responded in a press release, according to American media.