More than a century ago, a British scientist
named George Parker Bidder dropped 1,020 glass
bottles into the sea in an experiment designed to figure
out how currents worked at the bottom of the ocean.
Now one of those bottles, dropped between 1904 and
1906, has washed up on a German beach -- raising
hopes it might claim a world record as the oldest
message in a bottle ever found.
Its finder, a German woman named Marianne Winkler,
followed the instructions written on a postcard inside
and sent it back to the Marine Biological Association
of the United Kingdom.
For those at the British group, the arrival of the
envelope was a bit of a surprise, said its
communications officer, Guy Baker.
But the name on the postcard -- George Parker Bidder
-- was a big clue since he's a former president of the
association.
A quick search of the archives revealed he had
released the bottles into the North Sea at the start of
the 20th century as part of a study into bottom water
movement and the migration of plaice.
"When we got this postcard saying George Parker
Bidder, it was exciting because nothing like that has
come back in living memory," Baker said.
While many of the bottles -- dubbed "bottom bottles"
in Bidder's notes -- were recovered at the time, often
trawled up by fishermen, around 400 are still
unaccounted for, Baker said.
"We think most of these will probably be long lost --
but it's not impossible that another one will turn up,
although it's quite unlikely," he said.
The postcard inside each bottle had instructions in
English, Dutch and German asking the finder to send it
back with details of where, when and how it was
found.
Winkler and her husband had to break the bottle to
extract the postcard -- found in April on Germany's
Amrum Island in the North Sea -- since the lid was
impossible to remove. Fortunately, though, they had
the foresight to take a picture before they did, Baker
said.
The postcard also promised the reward of an English
shilling for anyone returning it to Bidder for his
research.
The Marine Biological Association honored that
promise, sending Winkler a shilling -- a coin that was
phased out after Britain introduced decimalization in
1971 -- in a presentation box with a letter of thanks.
"The next thing for us is to see if we have got a world
record," said Baker, adding that the association is
sending details to the Guinness World Records.
The current record for the oldest message in a bottle
stands at 99 years and 43 days -- so if the new
discovery is accepted as being one of Bidder's "bottom
bottles," then it could well claim that title.
Technology has developed hugely over the intervening
century, but scientists are continuing to track what
happens at the bottom of our oceans.
These days, Baker said, the "message in a bottle" used
by scientists at the Marine Biological Association is a
tiny electronic tag fitted to individual fish and used to
gather data on how and where they move.
named George Parker Bidder dropped 1,020 glass
bottles into the sea in an experiment designed to figure
out how currents worked at the bottom of the ocean.
Now one of those bottles, dropped between 1904 and
1906, has washed up on a German beach -- raising
hopes it might claim a world record as the oldest
message in a bottle ever found.
Its finder, a German woman named Marianne Winkler,
followed the instructions written on a postcard inside
and sent it back to the Marine Biological Association
of the United Kingdom.
For those at the British group, the arrival of the
envelope was a bit of a surprise, said its
communications officer, Guy Baker.
But the name on the postcard -- George Parker Bidder
-- was a big clue since he's a former president of the
association.
A quick search of the archives revealed he had
released the bottles into the North Sea at the start of
the 20th century as part of a study into bottom water
movement and the migration of plaice.
"When we got this postcard saying George Parker
Bidder, it was exciting because nothing like that has
come back in living memory," Baker said.
While many of the bottles -- dubbed "bottom bottles"
in Bidder's notes -- were recovered at the time, often
trawled up by fishermen, around 400 are still
unaccounted for, Baker said.
"We think most of these will probably be long lost --
but it's not impossible that another one will turn up,
although it's quite unlikely," he said.
The postcard inside each bottle had instructions in
English, Dutch and German asking the finder to send it
back with details of where, when and how it was
found.
Winkler and her husband had to break the bottle to
extract the postcard -- found in April on Germany's
Amrum Island in the North Sea -- since the lid was
impossible to remove. Fortunately, though, they had
the foresight to take a picture before they did, Baker
said.
The postcard also promised the reward of an English
shilling for anyone returning it to Bidder for his
research.
The Marine Biological Association honored that
promise, sending Winkler a shilling -- a coin that was
phased out after Britain introduced decimalization in
1971 -- in a presentation box with a letter of thanks.
"The next thing for us is to see if we have got a world
record," said Baker, adding that the association is
sending details to the Guinness World Records.
The current record for the oldest message in a bottle
stands at 99 years and 43 days -- so if the new
discovery is accepted as being one of Bidder's "bottom
bottles," then it could well claim that title.
Technology has developed hugely over the intervening
century, but scientists are continuing to track what
happens at the bottom of our oceans.
These days, Baker said, the "message in a bottle" used
by scientists at the Marine Biological Association is a
tiny electronic tag fitted to individual fish and used to
gather data on how and where they move.
So old
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