A message in a bottle was found last April by a couple vacationing on the German island Amrum. The postcard inside was one of 1024 sent out over the seas by Marine Biologist George Parker Bidder III between 1904 and 1906.
Marine Biological Association
After more than 100 years, a postcard has finally reached it’s destination. Between 1904 and 1906, a bottle was thrown into the North Sea, the contents of which were meant to return to the Marine Biological Association of the U.K. The bottle was found back in April by a couple who was vacationing on the German island Amrum. Marianne Winkler saw the bottle’s contents, and sent the postcard in.
Marine Biological Association
According to the Associated Press Aug. 21, UK marine researchers were thrilled. "We certainly weren't expecting to receive any more of the postcards," stated Guy Baker, a spokesman for the group.
The Associated Press reports that the message in a bottle was one of 1024 postcards sent out over the sea by marine biologist George Parker Bidder III. Postcards were tossed into the ocean as a way to test ocean currents. Each postcard promised to pay a shilling to anyone who had returned the postcard. Marianne Winkler was paid an old English shilling, as promised by the postcard’s text (which was written in three different languages).
The aim of Bidder’s study was to test deep sea currents. He wanted to prove that the North Sea’s currents ran east to west. To accommodate his study, he had each of the bottles specially weighted so they would float just above the sea bed. The bottle sent in by Winkler came much later than most of the bottles which for the most part were found within months of their release, mostly by fisherman.
Bidder went on to become MBA president between 1939 to 1945, becoming the fourth president of the association. He also founded and was integral to other endeavors such as the Company of Biologists and the important journalsJournal of Experimental Biology and the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (today known as the Journal of Cell Science). The Marine Biological Association stated via email on Aug. 24 that Bidder also played an important role in the development of their Laboratory.
This 108 year-old find, may be the world’s oldest message in a bottle ever found. The existing record belongs to a message in a bottle that was found July 2013 just west of the Shetland Islands 99 years and 43 days after its release. The Marine Biological Association of the U.K is waiting to find out whether their postcard will set the new record for oldest message in a bottle ever found.
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