Just how tough is your average DSLR memory card? Apparently tough enough to survive a year at the bottom of the ocean. Naturalist and aspiring photographer Markus Thompson was scuba diving in Deep Bay near Vancouver, British Columbia, when he found a Canon EOS 1000D. Curious, he brought it to the surface and took out the SD card, and was actually able to recover about 50 photos.
With a bounty of pictures and a desire to find the camera’s owner, Thompson took to social networking for help. He posted his find to Google+, including pictures of the camera itself as well as the photos he was able to recover from the SD card. “Approximately 50 pictures on the card from a family vacation. If you know a fire fighter from British Columbia whose team won the Pacific Regional Firefit competition, has a lovely wife and (now) 2 year old daughter — let me know. I would love to get them their vacation photos,” he posted.
The social network’s hive mind went to work and in less than 24 hours Thompson received a message stating “I know exactly who the camera belongs to!” The owner, a firefighter from British Columbia, was identified through photos on the card that showed him at the Pacific Regional Firefit competition. The camera — which can cost upwards of $500 in new condition — made its splash in August of 2010, and had been soaking ever since.
We’ve seen the power of social media to spread information about important events and natural disasters, and it’s nice to see it work on a much smaller and more personal scale. And while obviously the camera is a total loss, the family was able to secure their vacation photos, not to mention a story they’ll be able to share for a lifetime.
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