A camera lost in a 2012 shipwreck off Vancouver Island is being returned to its original owner, artist Paul Burgoyne. The device sank with his trawler, the Bootlegger, during a journey to Tahsis, B.C., along with treasured photos.

Two years later, in May 2014, marine biology students Tella Osler and Beau Doherty found the camera during a dive near Aguilar Point. It had rested 12 meters deep, covered in marine life.

Despite its condition, the camera’s 8GB Lexar Platinum II memory card remained intact. Marine ecology professor Isabelle Côté retrieved the photos and posted a family portrait online in hopes of finding the owner.

A coast guard member recognized Burgoyne from the rescue he had conducted two years earlier. This led to the camera’s identification and the beginning of its journey back to him.

The photos included special moments: family members gathered to scatter his parents’ ashes and a video taken just before the wreck occurred.

Burgoyne was stunned and deeply moved. He reflected on the technological durability of the memory card and the emotions the photos stirred up from that traumatic day.

The recovery is a testament to the unexpected paths memory can take—and a reminder that sometimes, even lost moments can find their way home.