A message in a bottle found after 132 years
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (329038)
Rockingham, Australia
March 7, 2018 2:50am CST
Making the news a few days ago in Perth, Western Australia, was the story of the family who found an old Dutch gin bottle on a beach 180 kilometres north of Perth. When they shook the sand out of the bottle they also shook out a message on a rolled-up piece of paper.
To cut a long story short, the bottle came from the German barque, Paula. Between 1864 and 1933, thousands of such bottles were thrown overboard from German ships. Inside each was a form with the date, the ship’s coordinates and details of its passage. Anyone finding a bottle was asked to return it together with details of where it was found. In this way, the German Naval Observatory hoped to better understand global ocean currents.
Upon contacting the German authorities it was discovered that an entry in the Paula’s meteorological journal made mention of a bottle being thrown overboard on June 12, 1886. The dates and coordinates match those on the form found in the bottle. At 132 years old, this is now the oldest-known message in a bottle in the world. It’s on loan to the WA Museum for the next two years.
The photo is of a pretty little boat seen recently in the town of Denmark, Western Australia.
32 people like this
33 responses
@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Mar 18
@moffittjc You haven't passed away yet so there is still time. Were you excited when you found the money? I guess you had to hand it in. What currency was it in?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
@moffittjc I'm glad you kept it ('cause that's what I would have done ). In fact, if I knew how, I'd have dived to try to find some more!
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130980)
• India
7 Mar 18
No one talks about sending messages sealed in bottles these days but we did and hoped we would find them toospecially addressed to us (lol)
2 people like this
@allknowing (130980)
• India
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv I used to read those romantic comics and there that was a common feature
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@Letranknight2015 (51604)
• Philippines
7 Mar 18
Maybe it's time for me to make a bottle message myself. Hopefully it can be found after a couple of centuries?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (119224)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 18
I always enjoy hearing stories like this, especially knowing where a bottle ends up after being thrown out to sea. Did the story mention where the Paula happened to be at the time the bottle was thrown overboard? I would be interested to know the path of that bottle and how the ocean currents steered it to where it ended up!
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@moffittjc (119224)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv Was it a navy ship, or a merchant vessel?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
@moffittjc I don't think the article mentioned what type it was. I'd presume a navy ship but that's just a guess. Here's a link to the article:
A Perth family makes an extraordinary historical discovery on a WA beach — a message hidden in a 19th century gin bottle tossed overboard from a German sailing ship 132 years ago.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (172618)
• United States
7 Mar 18
Wow, it is pretty amazing it hadn't been picked up before now.
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@snowy22315 (172618)
• United States
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv Yeah, it makes you wonder how long it had been on the beach. 132 years is a long time..
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@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
@snowy22315 True. It could have been sitting on the beach for 100 years but maybe they can tell from the state of the glass how long it's been sitting there.
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
8 Mar 18
I love stories like this The person who threw that bottle in the water would be long gone now and have no idea that it had been found. Amazing,
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv Indeed but very intriguing for the people who found it. I would love to find something like that from many years ago.
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@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
@sprite1950 The captain was just doing as he was ordered by the German Naval Observatory so perhaps he didn't think about it much after he dropped it in the ocean.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
@tallawah wrote about the 108 year old bottle which, until this one, was the oldest message-in-a-bottle ever found. Here is the link to the discussion:
Washing up on the German shore was a bottle which contained a note, written by an English biologist 108 years ago. In 1906 marine biologist George Parker...
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43419)
• Denver, Colorado
17 Mar 18
Wow, that would be really cool to stumble upon!
That's a stunning photo. Did Vince take that?
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
7 Mar 18
Luckily a whale didn't swallow it @JudyEv .
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv Yeah, he probably pooped it back out.
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@JohnRoberts (109848)
• Los Angeles, California
7 Mar 18
I saw that amazing story. I wish I could find something like that at the beach.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (34665)
•
8 Mar 18
Reminds me of the movie "Message In A Bottle" with Kevin Costner. Although, that message did not take 132 years to be found
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@dgobucks226 (34665)
•
8 Mar 18
@JudyEv A nice romantic story with a sad ending. Paul Newman co-starred.
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@JudyEv (329038)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Mar 18
It's a very long time for a bottle to be in the sea.