This Man’s Message In A Bottle Was Found 5 Years After His Death

He's "living on through these bottles."

Donal ó Gallchoir was out for a beach-combing walk with his two daughters in Donegal, Ireland, when they spotted a curious bottle among the rocks.

Facebook: LostAtSeaGroup

Inside was a letter saying the bottle came from Lewis Knight of St. John's, Newfoundland, and was tossed into the Atlantic Ocean near Labrador in November 2004.

Facebook: LostAtSeaGroup

Gallchoir tried to contact Knight and let him know the bottle had been found, but had no luck.

So he turned to Lost at Sea, a Facebook group of ocean finds, to solve the mystery.

Facebook: LostAtSeaGroup

That's how he eventually found Knight's family, and learned the man himself died in 2011.

Yvonne Knight

Knight had worked for years on ferries that ran between Newfoundland and Labrador and often sent messages overboard.

"He just had a real curiosity on how vast the ocean was, the currents and stuff. He just wanted to test if a bottle would end up somewhere," Susan, one of Knight's daughters, told BuzzFeed Canada.

This is the second time one his many bottles has gotten a response since his death.

"The first response that we got was amazing. When we got the letter we couldn’t believe it," Susan, one of Knight's daughters, told BuzzFeed Canada.

"Dad had been passed away a couple of years ago at that point and it felt like he was still living — living on through these bottles."

The family doesn't know how many bottles Knight tossed into the ocean over the years. But since he started in 1977, the family has received 29 responses from as far away as Norway, the Shetland Islands, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Isle of Scilly.

Yvonne Knight

Yvonne, another of Knight's daughters, said people would often reply with details of where they found the bottle and photos.

"One time, someone sent a family picture and he joked and said 'I got another family somewhere else,'" added Susan.

A bed and breakfast in Ireland even has his bottle and a reply from the family displayed in a room.

Yvonne Knight

"It’s funny to think about it, but I don’t think he ever thought about us receiving these after he passed," said Yvonne.

Yvonne Knight

And since the bottle found by Gallchoir was hardly the last Knight sent, the family suspects there may be yet more replies to come.

"It was a rather sad ending but I think the family are delighted their dad's messages are still floating in the ocean and just sometimes getting found," said Gallchoir.

Facebook: LostAtSeaGroup

"It's letting them know his spirit is alive, and definitely not forgotten."