Three bottles containing written messages made a successful journey from Jamaica to the beach in Port Aransas in Texas, a distance of over 1,400 miles. The missives were found by Jace and Kathryn Tunnell of Corpus Christi, Texas, as they were conducting a wildlife survey looking for stranded sea turtles for the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is associated with the Marine Science. According to Jace Tunnell, the research reserve’s director, the bottles were discovered on Matagorda Island, a barrier island on the coast of the Texas Gulf some 133 miles southwest of Galveston Island.
The first letter discovered by the Tunnells in a bottle had faded, so no date or name could be found, but it is believed that the sender could live on or have been on a visit to Galveston Island, another barrier island on the Texas Gulf coast. This message was written with a red or pink pen and then sealed in a clear bottle. The Mission-Aransas Research Reserve reported that messages written in pencil and placed in dark bottles tend to fare better and last longer.
The writer of the second message-in-a-bottle found by the Tunnells was Madi Whalen, a high school graduate from Kansas City, Missouri, who wrote the message in pencil from Point Lucea in Jamaica at the Grand Palladium Resort & Spa. It was dated June 13, 2022, and said, “Today was our last full day here. I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to have no responsibilities for a while for once. I’m excited to go home and see my family again, though.”
Another message, also from Jamaica and also dated June 2022, read, “Ciao Hello Hola Aloha Bonjour Hallo. My name is Easton. My favorite band is Morat. My favorite movie is Dazed And Confused. My two best gals and I are on holiday in Jamaica and decided to leave a message in a bottle for someone special. I leave for university soon after we get back and I’d like not to. Anyway, I hope someone finds this and it makes their day — your day. Easton.”
Photo – Deposit Photos