We are Renata Brito and Felipe Dana, journalists for The Associated Press. For nearly two years, we assembled puzzle pieces from across three continents to uncover the story of a mysterious Mauritanian boat — and the people it carried from hope to death. Ask us anything.

One thing that surprised us happened during our last few days in Tobago. A fisherman casually told us about a second “strange” boat that had also appeared on a beach nearby but without any people inside. It was still there so we drove around for 15 minutes and found it turned upside-down on the sand. Felipe took a photo and we peaked underneath the hull. There was clothing, shoes, soccer jerseys and other personal belongings that, once again, suggested they were migrants. It was a smaller wooden boat that looked like it was from Morocco or the Western Sahara. Nobody in Tobago knew anything else about it. We couldn’t find anything in the local news either. We’ll unfortunately never know what happened to the people traveling aboard it.

Felipe here. I started working really young as a photographer but quickly realized that telling stories through photos was my passion, so I decided to dedicate solely to photojournalism. Working for an international news agency I cover all sorts of breaking news, but whenever possible I like to focus on topics I believe are important, like social inequality, climate, conflicts, and of course, migration.

Renata here. Being able to witness and document what happens in our world, in our communities, firsthand always fascinated me. It’s a great privilege that must be taken with great responsibility. It’s also a profession that allows you to talk to so many different people — from presidents to ordinary citizens — visit places and learn about new subjects that I’m would probably never come across if it wasn’t for journalism. I reported on many different subjects before recently deciding to focus on migration. It’s a fascinating topic that intersects with many other areas I’m interested in: geopolitics, human rights, global inequality, climate, race, gender and more.

We spoke a lot about this between us because we wanted to be as sensitive and respectful as possible with the families we traced through the SIM card. We decided to separate things: first we introduced ourselves making it clear that we were journalists, explained what we were doing, how we had found them (delivering news of the boat, the dead found on board and the phone that linked back to them) and then we gave them time to process the information and answer as best we could any questions they might have.

Then, depending on how they reacted and processed the information we would come back later (most times in the next day/days) and see if they were open to talking to us for the story. Some mothers were too upset to talk to us again which we respected and usually liaised with another member of the family or community. Despite the tragic situation that brought us to them, most people were grateful and willing to speak to us though only a few agreed to go on camera. Irregular migration is still a taboo subject in some of these places.

Hello. This case was first reported locally by journalists in Tobago. The news eventually reached us in Spain. Having covered migration in the Canary Islands, we quickly noticed the striking similarities of this boat to the ones used by migrants to reach Europe. Like other journalists and migration experts, we immediately suspected these people had not intended to reach Tobago but had gotten lost on the way to the Canaries. Still, this was almost unprecedented (only one such case known to have happened from 2006). So we thought this boat appearing in Tobago was a sign that the situation on that migration route was much worse than previously known and that it deserved our attention.

We also wanted to know who those people were and whether their families would find them, knowing they were so far away from both their point of departure and intended destination.

In this case, the forensic pathologist determined that they most likely died of hypothermia or dehydration.

You’re totally right. There were moments during the investigation when things felt like they were moving really fast, and other moments when for weeks or a few months we made no progress. Things really took off once we traveled to Mauritania and Tobago and got access to that contact list. Although I (Renata) report a lot from my computer and phone, through social media etc, there’s nothing more efficient than meeting people in person and getting information on the ground. And then the families start talking to each other and news of our search spread in the communities that at a certain point it wasn’t us looking for relatives of the missing but relatives looking for us to share information and also ask what we knew.

Regarding the DNA test, that took months to sort out logistically speaking, but once we sorted that out and shipped the sample to the Forensic Science Center in Trinidad it took another four months for the results to come back.

Through interviews with families and one man who was meant to have boarded the doomed boat in Mauritania but did not ultimately get on, we know that 43 people are believed to have boarded this boat. Through our reporting we know the names of 33 of these 43 passengers. However, that boat was later found in Tobago with only 14 bodies, three skulls and other bones. We suspect that the rest of the passengers from that boat stayed in the Atlantic. We know from interviewing survivors of other shipwrecks that the first to die are often thrown overboard until the remaining survivors no longer have the strength to throw the bodies in the water. One of the 14+ bodies found in Tobago has been identified through our reporting and a DNA test confirmation as belonging to Alassane Sow, from Mali.

I think I'll trust the journalists who spent time with migrants and researched this extensively as opposed to u/dce42 on reddit who "did their own research".

Ah yes, copy Australia's system that required ignoring international laws and agreements by refusing refugees and sending them to "detainment" camps which have resulted in the mass mistreatment of refugees and many being left there for years. All the while there are still many attempted crossings, it's just Australia doesn't really track them so much any more and ignores all of those that die. Heck, recent polls still show a majority thinking there are too many immigrants, even with all these policies. Is letting people die or sending them to concentration camps seriously the best idea you have?

What makes you think that is the case? Have you seen and spoken to many immigrants who have easy money and citizenship upon arrival in a foreign country?