A message in a bottle which washed up more than 108 years after it was thrown into the sea has been confirmed as the world’s oldest by the Guinness Book of World Records .
After a careful review of the historic evidence, Guinness confirmed that the mysterious postcard found on the shores of Amrum Island, Germany “is the oldest message in a bottle ever.”
A long time at sea
The glass bottle spent an incredible 108 years and 138 days at sea between its release in the North Sea by the Marine Biological Association (MBA) in the U.K. on November 30, 1906 and its eventual discovery by retired Marianne Winkler while she was on holiday in 2015.
Ms. Marianne Winkler followed the visible instructions to ‘BREAK THE BOTTLE’ and found it contained a postcard asking the finder to send the card back to the MBA, stating where it was found, in return for a one shilling reward. She duly returned the card inside and the MBA kept their end of the bargain by sending her a shilling.
Previous record: 99 years, 43 days at sea
Previously, the oldest message in a bottle spent 99 years and 43 days at sea and was part of a similar science experiment, Guinness said.
“The postcard asked the finder to fill out information about where the bottle was found, if it was trawled up, what the boat name was and asked once the postcard was completed for it to be returned to a George Parker Bidder in Plymouth for a reward of one shilling,” said Guy Baker, communications Officer at MBA.
“Bidder was a President at the Marine Biological Association from 1939-1945, so our receptionist was somewhat confused!” Baker said.
Dug into the archives
“Once we received this postcard we delved into the incredible archives at the MBA and discovered everything we needed to know about Bidder’s research. In the archives, we found out about Bidder’s ‘bottom bottles’ which were bottles released into the sea as a powerful tool for the study of bottom water movement and the migration of plaice!” he said.
Modern day research of the same nature is done by installing tiny electronic tags on fish which keep data on where they have been.
1020 such bottles in 1904-1906
“Bidder released a total of 1,020 bottles between 1904 and 1906 and he reported that his bottles were trawled up by the fishermen at the rate of 55 per cent per annum. Some bottles were never returned, assumed to be lost in the open ocean forever. The bottle discovered in Germany was from a set of trails released on the November 30, 1906,” said Mr. Baker.
