Waterdeath? Have I Been Attacked by a Shark?

Last evening, while checking out my Twitter updates, I came across a post from my friend Avatrix (twitter.com/avatrix) in which he talked about a feed that he was following called Frenzied Waters (twitter.com/FrenziedWaters). Apparently, this feed gave clues via GPS coordinates that would help to located evidence "capsules" that had clues regarding various shark attacks that have occured in the past. These capsules were distributed in various cities around the country, including Boston where I live. Being a veteran of Epic's "Every COG Tells a Story" Campaign and the proud owner of my very own COG Tag, I thought that this would be another fun diversion. Given my background in Marine Biology (I have two degrees and close to 15 years experience working with sharks inthe aquarium industry), I was even more intrigued by this viral campaign to help promote the annual Shark Week coming later this month on the Discovery Channel. So I followed Avatrix's Twitter feed to see if he could find the Boston Capsule.

Forward to this morning. Avatrix posted that he was planning to rise early to go and search for the capsule before heading off to work. I told him to keep me posted and that I could head out to the area designated by the coordinates (42° 22' 20.82", -71° 4' 44.62) found on the Discovery Channel's Facebook Page. These coordinates indicated that the capsule was located just North of Boston and just west of Boston Harbor, somewhere near what is known as the Magrath Highway.

Avatrix posted shortly before 8:30 this morning that he had checked a few parking lots in the area, but had found only trash. I posted that I would go ahead and check it out on my way into work and report back if I found anything. Before heading out, I checked Google Maps and GoogleEarth to get some clues about the surrounding area. I noticed that there was a Water St. very close to the point marked by the coordinates and thought that this would be a good place to look. So with this information and my Google printout in hand, I headed out to the site. When I got to Water St., the first thing I noticed was that there was a long dirt road that led back behind a Hampton Inn into a grassy area that backed up to the Boston Transit Yard. Lots of "No Tresspassing" signs and garbage. I parked in the vacant lot at the end of the street and started to poke around. I quickly realized that this area was the defacto home to a group of homeless folks and probably not the best place to be snooping around. I decided if the capsule was here, then I would let it lay where it was.

The End of Water St. - Only Land Sharks Here

So I decided to head back to the street and go into the Hampton Inn to see if they knew anything about Frenzied Waters or the capsule. No luck, they looked at me like I was some crazy guy on a wild goose chase - go figure. I walked further up the street and noticed an Antique Shop with a large animal mural on the wall outside. I figured that maybe this was a good location for the capsule.

Mural Outside Antique Market

Unfortunately, the doors were locked and the shop would not open until 11 am. Having to get to work, I shot Avatrix a post outlining my suspicions that the capsule was in the store and that I had to head off to work. I asked him if he planned to stop by the shop on the way home. He said yes, so I headed off to work.

The Front Door to Cambridge Antique Market

So I went about my day and didn't think much of the search, figuring that Avatrix would check out the lead later in the day. Work was slow and my day ended early, so I decided to go by the site outline by the coordinates and see if I could find anything. I shot a text message to Avatrix to let him know that I was going to stop by the shop and headed out. He was pretty confident that the capsule was indeed in the shop. I told him I would let him know what I found, if anything.

So I get to the Cambridge Antique Market and go inside. There are four people hanging out around the front counter. I somewhat sheepishly walk up to them and ask them if they know anything about a Discovery Channel scavenger hunt surrounding Shark Week. There was a long pause and then they handed me this.

Shark Week "Capsule"

I sent Avatrix a text message letting him know that I found the "capsule" and then sat down with the proprietors of the shop (very nice folks by the way) to open up the jar and get a look at what was inside. This is what I found.

Seal

First Look Inside

Shark Tooth & Website URL to Open More Content

Photo

Inscription on Back of Photo

Section of Rubber Raft or PFD with "Teeth" Marks

Sailor's Hat

Postcard from Sydney Australia

Message on Back of Post Card

Pin-up Photo

I asked the folks at the Antique Shop if they knew why they were chosen by the Discovery Channel for this promotion. It turns out that the folks from the Discovery Channel stop by the shop from time to time to pick up props when shooting in the Boston Area. Another cool bit of trivia about the shop is that it used to serve as a casket factory. With three levels and a basment full of stuff, I decided to look around a bit. I found some pretty cool items including the following.

Vintage "Electric" Hockey Game

Back Glass to a 1970's "Gay Time" Pinball Machine

Back Glass to a 1970's "Jive Time" Pinball Machine

Darth Vader Motorcycle Gas Tank

I thanked the folks at the Antique Shop for their help and left the hat with them to add to their collection. I plan to keep the shark tooth and give the jar and the rest of the contents to Avatrix for his help in tracking down the capsule.

When I got home this evening, I decided to check out the Frenzied Waters web page at www.frenziedwaters.com. After a little confusion, I realized that if I typed in the url on the tag attached to the shark tooth, that this would apparently open up new content on the site. However, it appears that a number of these capsules are being dropped in cities each week leading up to the beginning of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and that this week's code had already been entered. Oh well, I love the hunt and have a cool new souvenier for my efforts. If you have not checked out the Frenzied Waters site yet and want a really creepy experience, go to the link above and click on the floating barrel to the far right (the words "My Story" will appear above the barrell when your mouse cursor is over it). Click on this and you will be asked to link the web page up to your Facebook account. Do this and get ready or one of the creepiest experiences on the web. Seriously, I don't want to ruin the suprise, but my girl watched the results and said "turn it off now". Very cool and VERY Creepy.

Also, for some pretty cool video content, go to Youtube and search for Frenzied Waters.

As a final note, I give you Waterborn with a real shark and other big fish. These photos are from back in my days working in public aquariums. Enjoy and don't go into the water this summer.