In June, a 9-year-old girl found a bottle with a note on a Hawaiian beach that a high schooler from Japan had sent 37 years ago to research ocean currents. The distance between Hawaii and the Japanese coast is about 6000 km.
Between 1984 and 1985, the high school sent 750 of these letters by glass mail, Japanese newspaper Mainichi reports. In the past decades, 17 bottles have been found in various parts of the world, including the American West Coast. The last time any of the messages were found was nearly twenty years ago, in 2002.
The notes included Japanese, English, and Portuguese instructions asking them to contact the high school. Abby Graham, the 9-year-old who found the bottle on a rocky beach, drew a picture of Sushi and her sister and mailed it to the Japanese school in early September. She told local media she hoped to “find more mail in bottles,” the Guardian wrote.
“We never expected to find a bottle after 37 years,” said the high school principal, who was surprised by the news. “It brings back nostalgic memories of my time at school,” said a 54-year-old Japanese national who was involved in the project at the time.
