Social Media Appeal Finds Owner of Camera Washed Ashore on Taiwanese Beach

Japanese student found her camera three years after she dropped it in the ocean—thanks to an appeal on social media from a teacher in Taiwan. Students at Yue Ming Elementary School in Yilan, a city in Taiwan’s northeast, found the waterproof Canon G12 camera on a beach. Their teacher, Park Lee, wrote that the camera was covered with lichen. The students took it back to a classroom and discovered pictures inside from 2015. Lee posted the photos on his Facebook on Tuesday, March 27, along with a description, pointing out that they were likely taken in Japan, and asked for help in identifying the photographer. Only one day later, Lee wrote: “Thanks to the amazing internet world, we’ve found the camera’s owner! She is a student who is currently in her third year of English studies at the Department of Foreign Languages in Tokyo’s Sophia University. The world is really coincidental—she actually traveled to Taiwan with friends in March last year!” Lee added that upon hearing the news of the camera’s discovery, the photographer—named Serina Tsubakihara—had decided to make another trip to Taiwan to meet the people who had discovered her long lost camera. On her own Facebook page, Tsubakihara wrote that she had taken the images in the summer of 2015 when she went scuba diving near Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island with friends. “With so many people’s support, [Mr. Lee’s post] hit over 10,000 shares and finally came to me!” Tsubakihara wrote. “I still can’t believe this is happening… I am so lucky and happy to have such a wonderful experience to feel people’s kindness… I am going to Taiwan to meet Mr. Lee and his students in June.” Credit: Serina Tsubakihara & Park Lee via Storyful