On July 10, 1959, 27-year old geologist Paul Walker penciled a message and left it in a bottle under some rocks 168 feet away from a glacier in the Arctic. The letter may have been the young geologist's last written words because he died in November of the same year. The message in a bottle, however, remained tucked between some rocks and has been found by two researchers 54 years later.
Warwick Vincent and Denis Sarrazin, researchers from Laval University in Quebec City discovered Walker's message while exploring an area near the edge of a glacier on Ward Hunt Island. The note included instructions for whoever finds the message. It also bore two names that are familiar to the researchers who found it: Paul Walker and Albert Crary.
"I recognized the two names instantly," Vincent said. "Walker is a famous name in our parts up there because the highest point on Ward Hunt Island is called Walker Hill. ... we've been camping next to Walker Hill now for over 10 years."
The note wasn't penned for sentimental purposes. It merely asked its finder to measure the distance between a nearby rock formation and the edge of a nearby ice shelf.
"This and a similar cairn 21.3 feet to the west were set on July 10, 1959. The distance from this cairn to the glacier edge about four feet from the rock floor is 168.3 feet," the note reads.
"Anyone venturing this way is requested to remeasure this distance and send the information to: Paul T. Walker, Department of Geology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 10, Ohio, USA and Mr. Albert P. Crary, Air Force Cambridge Research Center, 11 Leon St., Boston 15, Mass. USA."
Vincent and Sarrazin remeasured the distance using GPS equipment and by pacing off, and found that the ice shelf had retreated some 200 feet. This means the glacier shrunk 233 feet since the message was written apparently because of climate change.
According to Vincent, it was remarkable that Walker thought to leave the note "because in the '50s, it was unthinkable that this would melt."
"Walker didn't know at that stage whether the glacier was advancing or retreating. But he wanted a reference point that would allow future researchers in the area to provide him with important data," Vincent said.
