Caputo Family

S.O.S.A.C.E. Project

September 20/12

Found at: 65°N,14°W

Last seen: Labrador

Clue #11. Bottle analysis The sample in the bottle contained granules of limestone, coal, and iron. There

were also traces of lava that were not old. This probably means there may be an active volcano nearby.

2. Recovered Text Our CSI laboratory analysis was able to decipher the washed-away writing on the

message enclosed in the bottle. The pressure used when writing the note left some letter indentations that gave us some clues to the sections missing. Here is what we deciphered:

“There are hills and mountains near us. I can see that at least one is an active volcano. The air smells of rotten eggs or a burning match.”

We believe that the smell may be sulfur. Also, the ink was made from sumac and

salt. There may be salt deposits nearby.

Active volcanoLime stone

Clue #21. Bottle analysis There was plant material in the bottle that we identified as

Mediterranean sedge (Cyperus papyrus). Ancient people used to make papyrus from it. There were also sap samples from a stone pine and a juniper tree. There were leaf fragments from palm and beach trees.

2. Recovered text “We have plenty to eat. We have artichokes, blood oranges, pistachios,

figs, and almonds. There are also ancient olive trees, but we don’t know how to make the olives edible.”

“We have had a short, mild winter. During the summer months it is very dry and hot.”

sedge

Olive tree

Blood oranges

Clue #31. Bottle analysis the bottle contained small, broken pieces of hedgehog quills. Our analysis of the

soil samples showed many frogs and toads are in the area. We found one small bone fragment from a gecko lizard. There was a distinctive mark on the fragment that we believe came from a red footed falcon (falco vespertinus). There was also a small piece of fur from a red fox.

2. Recovered text “We use nets to fish every day from the shore. We capture sardines. Off shore,

but at a great distance, we can see ships pass us by. It’s so frustrating that they can’t see our signal fires.”

Hedgehog quills

Red footed falcon

Red fox

Gecko lizard

Clue #41. Recovered text There was a lot of damage to the bottom of the note. However, using several techniques we were able to recover the following text. “Using a crude sundial we were able to figure our approximate latitude. It is 38°.” “Please find us soon! We look up at the North Star each night and hope that it will

guide your ships to rescue ships to us.” The Caputo Family

News Flash!

This bottle contained a cell from the apollo butterfly. We detected a urine stain on the note, and it was from a female aesculapian. Also, a piece of a shell from a blue limpet was in the bottom of the bottle. The inside of the bottle was covered in a strange film; it was olive oil.

APOLLO BUTTERFLY- they are mostly found in Italy and Swahili

AESCULAPIAN- found some in Italy

BLUE LIMPET-found on the Moroccan coast and on the Spanish coast near Gibraltar

Located At