An Australian woman found a 132-year-old drift bottle on an island 180 kilometers north of Perth. According to expert investigation and appraisal, this drift bottle was indeed thrown into the sea by the German Naval Observatory in the second half of the 19th century to study the world’s ocean currents. It is the oldest known drift bottle. At present, this drift bottle has been loaned to the State Museum of Western Australia in Australia for display.
According to reports, on January 21, 2018, Tonya Ilman was walking on the sand dunes north of Wedge Island, 180 kilometers north of Perth, Western Australia, when she suddenly noticed a 19th century Dutch gin bottle exposed The sand has raised letters on it. She thought it would look great in a bookcase, so she picked it up.
The bottle is dark green, has no cork and no seal. The bottle contains a quarter of moist sand. There is also a note rolled up and tied with a rope. There is German handwriting on the note.
When the sand was poured out, there was a piece of paper rolled up and tied with a rope. There is German handwriting on the note, and the handwriting is very fuzzy. According to the text above, the date of this letter is June 12, 1886. The letter stated that the bottle was dropped from the German sailing ship “Paula”. 950 kilometers off the coast of Australia. It was traveling from Cardiff to Makassar, Indonesia, and the bottle was discarded in the Southeast Indian Ocean. The bottle may be washed off the coast of Australia within 12 months, where it was buried in the sand for 132 years. During storms and heavy rains, the sand dunes in the area are constantly moving, so the bottles may be periodically exposed, which may cause the cork to dry and fall off.
Between 1864 and 1933, the German Naval Observatory dropped thousands of drifting bottles into the sea to study world ocean currents. In each bottle there is a table with the date, the coordinates of the ship and the details of the route. This is part of an experiment conducted by the German Naval Observatory to better understand global ocean currents. The note requires the person who found the bottle to record when and where it was found and return it to the German Naval Observatory in Hamburg or the nearest German consulate.
Prior to this, the project received 662 responses, and none of the glass bottles were returned. The drift bottle that Ilman picked up was the 663th. The note is dated June 12, 1886, and the name of the ship is “Bola”. The detailed information is consistent with the existing records of the meteorological research diary of the captain of “Bola”. In addition, the captain’s signature and handwriting are also consistent.
The record for the longest time between throwing and discovery of a drifting bottle in the world was 108 years, 4 months and 18 days, and it is now broken by the drifting bottle picked up by Ilman.
