Two Irish surfers in Donegal have found a Russian time capsule that was buried in the ice of the North Pole in 2018 and floated over 4,000km to the north-west coast of Ireland.
Sophie Curran and her friend Conor McClory discovered the capsule while walking on the Bloody Foreland in Gweedore, initially believing it to be someone's ashes or some form of a bomb.
However, they soon realized that the unusual device was actually a time capsule buried by a crew of Russian sailors in the North Pole two years ago.
"We were a bit weary at the start because it quite looks like a bomb - so we didn't go too close too quick," McClory told Newstalk Breakfast.
"But then we just wandered over and picked it up.
"We actually seen that there's a Russian inscription on it - and Sophie's brother has a friend in Russia.
"He translated it and let us know it was a time capsule."
Seo cuid den ábhar a bhí istigh sa taisceadán todhchaí a fuair Conor McClory agus a chara Sophie ar chladach Chnoc Fola a cuireadh sa leac oighear sa mholl thuaidh i 2018. Criú an ‘50 Let Pobedy’ ón Rúis a chur ann é. @RTERnaG pic.twitter.com/k82LIllXhe
— Clár Barrscéalta (@Barrscealta1) November 3, 2020
Curran and McClory found a wide range of items contained within the capsule, including letters, photographs, menus, and wine corks, according to the Irish Independent.
Understandably, most of the content was written in Russian, but there were some English texts, enabling the two friends to track down one of the crew members involved in the original capsule two years ago.
They tracked down Sveta, an Instagram blogger from St. Petersburg who was aboard 50 Years of Victory, the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker whose crew buried the time capsule.
Sveta told Curran and McClory that the ship's crew traveled to the 90-degree point of the North Pole by helicopter, expecting the time capsule to remain buried in the ice for at least 30 years.
The fact that it has already broken free and traveled more than 4,000km provides a stark warning about climate change, Curran said. The surfer told the Independent that it was "really scary" that the capsule has already broken free of the ice.
An English letter contained in the capsule further warned of the dangers of climate change, warning that there would be "no more ice in the Arctic" by the time the capsule was found in 30 years.
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