The story reads like something out of Hollywood and is quickly becoming an internet sensation. A mysterious camera housing washes ashore in Florida right into the hands of a US Coast Guard investigator. Subsequent Sherlock Holmes-style examination of the media card eventually helps to trace the unit to its original home and owners—over 1,100 miles away in Aruba.

Dates on the SD card's last recordings show that the housing was lost way back in November 2009. A sea turtle got hold of the unit in January 2010, managing to turn it on and film a leisurely 20 min swim.

Over four months later Paul Shultz spotted the wayward housing while walking along a pier in his hometown of Key West, FL. He put his investigative skills to work, picking out details from the photos and soliciting the help from members of the ScubaBoard.com. Eventually he was able to track down and contact the original owner of the camera system, who lost it while on a salvage dive in Aruba.

The Nikon Coolpix L18 camera survived the long voyage bone dry and looking new inside of the durable Ikelite ULTRAcompact housing. When it finally arrived in Key West after six months at sea the case was in great shape underneath a salty crust of ocean growth.

Thanks to Paul's efforts the housing and camera are on their way to Aruba to be reunited with their original owners. They are thrilled as Paul went well above and beyond the call of duty to track them down.

The turtle's video has since been posted on YouTube and quickly become a huge draw with over 750,000 hits on YouTube in less than 3 weeks.

This is just further proof that the new compact digital systems are tough, quality and easy to use! If a turtle can author a hit YouTube video then so can you... Check out our latest ULTRAcompact Digital Still and Compact Video packages and start documenting your own adventure.

Click here to see the sea turtle's footage on YouTube.

Click here to read the thread on ScubaBoard about the search for the camera's owner.

Click here to read the Yahoo! News telling of the story.

We'd like to extend a special thanks to Paul Shultz for sharing this story with us! Paul truly deserves the highest commendation for his work on this case! Great job!!!

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