The oldest message in a bottle on record was recently discovered on the coastal dunes of Western Australia. The brownish bottle had been lost at sea for 131 years and 223 days. Talk about lost at sea!
Researchers say the bottle was originally thrown overboard from a German vessel called the Paula on June 12, 1886. It’s purpose? It was part of a project investigating global ocean currents.
According to Smithsonian Magazine:
Paula was making its way across the Indian Ocean when the bottle was thrown into the waters. During this period, German sailors tossed thousands of bottles into the ocean as part of an experiment that sought to track the waters’ currents. To date, 662 messages from the same experiment have been found.
At 131 years old, the newly discovered relic may be the oldest message in a bottle ever found. The previous record holder was thrown into the ocean in approximately 1906 by a researcher for the UK Marine Biological Association. It was around 108 years old when it was found in 2015.
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