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In Germany, a Message-in-a-Bottle Found 108 Years After Its Release

schwit1 writes with a report that an early 20th century experiment has generated a belated data point. One of many floating bottles released 108 years ago to study currents was recently found by a German couple; it washed up on a beach in Amrum, Germany. From The Independent: When the couple unfurled the note inside, they found a message in English, German and Dutch. It asked the finder to fill in some information on where and when they had found the bottle, before returning it to the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. It said whoever did so would be rewarded with one shilling. Communications director of the Marine Biological Association, Guy Baker, told The Daily Telegraph: "It was quite a stir when we opened that envelope, as you can imagine." Once at the association, staff recognised the bottle was one of 1,020 released into the North Sea between 1904 and 1906 as part of a project to test the strength of currents. Mr Baker told the paper: "It was a time when they were inventing ways to investigate what currents and fish did. Many of the bottles were found by fishermen trawling with deep sea nets. Others washed up on the shore, and some were never recovered. Most of the bottles were found within a relatively short time. We're talking months rather than decades."

3 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Actual message by r1348 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Don't trust that Hitler guy. I know he's never gonna make it but you never know..."

  2. Re:Rewarded one shilling by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    There certainly is a lot of shilling going on.

  3. Re:Clean bottle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The instructions were unclear and my dick is stuck in the ceiling fan.