54-Year-Old Message In A Bottle Discovered During Arctic Expedition (VIDEO)

A couple of Canadian researchers stumbled upon a message in a bottle in the Canadian Arctic that was written 54 years ago by two famous geologists, Halifax Chronicle Herald reports.

Researchers from Laval University in Quebec City were exploring an area near the edge of a glacier on Ward Hunt Island, Canada's closest point to the North Pole, when they discovered the message in a bottle dated July 10, 1959. The message was written by geologists Paul Walker and Albert Crary, two well known figures of the polar geological research world, according to the tabloid.

"I recognized the two names instantly," biologist Warwick F. Vincent, director of the Center for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec City, told the Los Angeles Times. "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."

So what was the message in the bottle? Written on lined white paper with a pencil was a request from the geologists to the finder to measure the distance between a nearby rock formation and the edge of a nearby ice shelf.

"To whom it may concern, 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. Anyone venturing this way is requested to remeasure this distance and send the information to Walker's Ohio address." the note read. "Thank you very much."

By calculations it's safe to assume that Walker was only 25 years old when he wrote the note while Crary was a colleague of his who lived in Boston.

Researchers who found the 250-milliliter plastic sample bottle followed the instructions to the "T" and found that the ice shelf had retreated some 200 feet. Sadly, they didn't know where to send the information anymore. Shortly after writing the note, Walker suffered a massive stroke and had to be airlifted out of the Arctic by a bush pilot. The stroke left him paralyzed. He spent several weeks at his parents' home in Pasadena, Calif., before succumbing to his condition.

Vincent told the Halifax Chronicle Herald it was remarkable that Walker thought to leave the note where he did. "Because in the '50s, it was unthinkable that this would melt," he said. "We were reading some of his last word. He 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."