Message in Bottle Lands Students on Plum Island

Stories that start with finding a message in a bottle can get pretty interesting.

In the case of Lee Mohlere’s fifth-grade social studies class at John M. Marshall Elementary School, what began with a lesson on climate and geography ended with a trip last week to Plum Island, the federal government-owned facility where the students’ message happened to wash up in March.

While learning about currents, Ms. Mohlere’s class wrote a letter and placed it in an empty glass bottle sealed with a cork and duct tape. With permission from the Cross Sound Ferry operator, Ms. Mohlere tossed it overboard in November and hoped for the best.

It’s a project her class has been doing for a few years now, inspired by a similar one started by another teacher, David Cataletto, who now teaches third grade at the school. Last year’s bottle wasn’t found, but the one from two years ago washed up on Fishers Island.

“We are predicting it will end up somewhere either on Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts,” the students wrote in their letter. “We still won’t rule out an epic and adventurous journey to Europe, South America, Africa, or even Japan!”

This bottle, one of three assembled by Ms. Mohlere’s different classes, was tossed about through tides and currents until it made it south through the Sluiceway — that’s the waterway to the east of Plum Island — and then caught the current heading back west, washing up on the island’s south shore.

A Plum Island staff member was walking along the shore in March making a count of endangered piping plovers. Kevin Murphy, an environmental coordinator, found four of the little birds and the message in a bottle.

“It was super cool,” he said. “I never find stuff like that on the beach. It’s mostly driftwood and garbage.”

Once Jason Golden, Plum Island’s public affairs officer, got word of the find, he invited Ms. Mohlere’s class for a rare opportunity: a trip to the island as its youngest visitors this year. Plum Island will see about 1,500 visitors altogether in 2015, mostly from historical societies, college classes, and environmental groups, Mr. Golden said.

Ms. Mohlere said some of her students’ parents were initially apprehensive about the trip, having heard the rumors about what actually happens in a place whose formal name is the Plum Island and Animal Disease Control Center. (Think Montauk Monster, which turned out to be a dog.) Ms. Mohlere calmed them with actual research from the kids, and said school administrators were supportive of the trip because it could be connected to lessons in science, history, meteorology, and government.

“There’s so much mystery and fallacy about Plum Island, but we wouldn’t take the kids anywhere that isn’t safe,” the teacher said. “It’s really the experience of a lifetime for the kids. I think there’s a great education that can happen outside of the classroom.”

RELATED: Check out a gallery of photos from the students' trip to Plum Island.

The expedition began with three ferry trips, first through Shelter Island and then to Plum Island. Mr. Golden met them at the dock there and offered the first lesson of the day: what exactly goes on at Plum Island?

The answer: Research into diseases that affect the health of America’s livestock populations, for example, foot-and-mouth disease.

The first stop on the island was the bell, the original fog bell installed in a tower adjacent to the Plum Island Lighthouse in 1870. It was removed in 1954 but was returned to the island in 2000 as “a tribute to the lighthouse keepers who kept mariners safe during foggy weather,” Mr. Golden said. Today, the bell symbolically welcomes visitors to the island.

Then came the lighthouse itself, built in 1869 and modeled closely after the Old Field Point Lighthouse on the North Shore between Port Jefferson and Stony Brook. The fifth graders were able to explore the grounds and take lots of selfies, and even got to hear a ghost story. The lighthouse is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Colonel Thomas Gardiner.

Tom Dwyer, a geologist, displayed aerial photos of Plum Island, pointing out the spot where the students’ bottle washed up, and led a discussion of the glaciers that formed Long Island and its surrounding islands.

Then came a history lesson: The students passed by Building 257, part of Fort Terry, which has not been used for the last 20 years since most of Plum Island’s scientific functions were moved to different, more modern laboratories. Fortifications dating back to the Spanish-American War are still visible, including gun stations for protecting the island and barracks for the troops and supplies.

The kids were surprised to learn that although the island is staffed 24/7 by researchers, security agents, and others, no one actually lives there.

Probably their favorite moment was a stop at Seal Beach, the unofficial name given to the spot where dozens of seals can be seen sunning themselves on rocks during certain seasons.

“I will always remember the first time I saw a seal that close,” said Rosa Perez, 11.

At another beach, dubbed Family Bay Beach, where the families of Plum Island employees are invited to a beach picnic once a year, students had a chance to kick off their shoes and explore. As if it were just any beach, they wrote their names in the sand, skipped rocks, hunted for shells, and even dipped their toes in the 50-degree water. The difference was that they weren’t allowed to take away any souvenirs — no shells or rocks or beach glass, just memories.

A final stop took the group to a freshwater lake, which, said Mr. Golden, has “plentiful wildlife in a diverse ecosystem.”

On the bus back home, the students reflected on their trip.

“I was really excited,” said Ashly Morales, 11. “People don’t get to go there for a vacation or a visit.”

Kailey Anderson, 11, pointed out the constant presence of security people, who often had to remind students there were places where no photographs could be taken. “The thing that made me feel really special was seeing the security guards following us around,” she said. “It made me feel rich and famous.”

She and her friend Isabella Gonzalez, 10, bought matching pink T-shirts at the Plum Island gift shop (yes, there’s a gift shop).

“I feel so official,”said Isabella.

James Farrell, 11, called the trip “amazing.”

“It made us feel like we were special,” he said. “By chance, the bottle landed there.”