World's Oldest Message in a Bottle Discovered in Western Australia

Video | Updated 7 years ago

 

The world’s oldest known message in a bottle has been found half-buried at a West Australian beach nearly 132 years after it was tossed overboard in the Indian Ocean, 950km from the coast.

The message is dated 12 June 1886 and was jettisoned from the German sailing barque 'Paula' as part of a long-term German oceanographic experiment to better understand global ocean currents and find faster, more efficient shipping routes.

The Guinness World Record bottle and message will be on display at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle for the next 2 years.

For more information visit museum.wa.gov.au/bottle