Message In A Bottle
Children run near a giant bottle on the shores of a beach in Cancun November 28, 2010. The bottle contains a message reading "Urgent: Save Lives in Cancun," in reference to millions of world's poorest people. Mexico will host international climate change talks among almost 200 nations meeting in Cancun from November 29 to December 10. Reuters/Stringer

In April 2015, a couple found a “message in a bottle” while taking a stroll along a German beach. The century-old message, thought to be the world's oldest message, has finally reached its destination in the UK.

The message in the bottle was written by the then scientist George Parker Bidder. Upon opening the letter, the couple discovered that the same message was written in three different languages – German, Dutch and English. The postcard clearly stated that the message is meant for the Marine Biological Institute in the UK, therefore, the couple decided to send it to its intended destination.

The analysis of the message has revealed that the bottle was thrown into the North Sea sometime between 1904 and 1906. The bottle was found washed up on a beach on the German island of Amrum.

“We were very excited,” said Guy Baker, communications director of the Marine Biological Institute in Plymouth. “We certainly weren’t expecting to receive any more of the postcards.”

Baker further revealed that the message was one of the 1,000 other messages released into the sea by Bidder. The weight of the bottles was just enough to make them float above the sea bed. The floating of bottles containing a message was a part of a study conducted to investigate into the movement of sea currents. The veteran scientist went on to become the president of the biological institute later.

The message inside the bottle promised a “one shilling” reward to the person who finds the bottle and returns it to the biological institute. While a majority of the bottle was returned by fishermen along the coast decades ago, the one recently returned seems to the be oldest message in a bottle ever found. The officials at the biological association are trying to get the message in the bottle the status of “oldest message ever found” by the Guinness Book of World Record.

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