Blowing in the Wind

There is something undeniably romantic about casting a message in a bottle into the ocean. After all, what could be more enchanting than surrendering a personal secret to the tides, with nothing but the hope that it might one day wash ashore and find its way into a stranger's hands?

Tell the Sky takes this idea to the skies. However with this interactive map, instead of throwing a bottle into the ocean, you write a message on a glowing virtual lantern and release it into the wind. Carried by real-world wind currents, your lantern drifts across the world until someone catches it, reads your message and adds one of their own before sending it on its way again.

The map visualizes global wind patterns with animated streams flowing around the planet. But these aren't just decorative weather conditions. They determine where your lantern travels. Launch a lantern and it will be carried along by the prevailing winds, potentially travelling across continents and oceans before another user has an opportunity to catch it.

When someone catches your lantern, they can read your original message, add a message of their own and release it back into the atmosphere. Your lantern then continues its journey, accumulating messages as it travels from person to person. You can follow its progress on the map and see the cities it passes through and the people who have helped it on its way.

If you prefer sending your post by bottle then you can use Unstoried: Send a Message in a Bottle instead. This WebGL map allows you to drop a virtual message into the ocean and discover what messages drift back to you from strangers around the world.