Father and son find 30-year-old message in a bottle from Nunavut

Nauya Quitsaq and his son Lasyusie were out hunting for beluga near Akulivik in northern Quebec when they saw a dirty green bottle washed up on shore. 

Quitsaq said they nearly walked by it, thinking it was trash, but Lasyusie picked it up and realized there was a piece of paper inside. 

"It was a surprise. We didn't expect to see that," said Quitsaq. 

"I opened it and removed the paper inside gently because I knew it was going to tear if I do it roughly, so I took it out carefully and read it."

Upon reading the note, Quitsaq said he had goosebumps. 

The bottle had survived the waters of Hudson Bay for more than 30 years before being found. 

The note read, "If you happen to find this bottle, please smile and say hello and return it to Rhoda Paliak-Angootealuk, Coral Harbour, NWT. September 4, 1990. Southampton Island." 

Paliak-Angootealuk remembers being at a camp with her husband when she suddenly decided to put the note in the bottle and send it off to sea. 

She says she'd totally forgotten about it until someone messaged her on Facebook about the bottle being found. 

"I was just surprised," said Paliak-Angootealuk. "Wow, it took that long." 

Paliak-Angootealuk laughs when asked whether she remembered what she wrote in the note. 

"Of course I didn't remember!" 

But she's since shared her address and Quitsaq and his son are following through on the request to return it, and will be putting the bottle in the mail. 

Quitsaq says harvesters should keep an eye on the land. 

"Stuff like that, it's a treasure," he said. 

Bottles with messages stuffed inside them have a certain mystique, but they also contribute to pollution. Officials now generally advise against throwing garbage into the ocean.