It may have taken 132 years to get to a beach in Western Australia, but when the world’s oldest message in a bottle was discovered, it’s contents were slightly disappointing.
The note, enclosed in a gin bottle which dates back to 12 June 1886, is believed to have been thrown from the German sailing ship Paula as it crossed the Indian Ocean.
However, rather than a dramatic plea for help or a farewell to loved ones from doomed sailors, the message related to a worthy but not very exciting experiment to track ocean currents.
Predictably, Twitter users had fun with some alternative options.
"Please add me to your LinkedIn network" https://t.co/Rr37b3ZpJX
— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBC) March 6, 2018
One user imagined the bottle contained the plea to “send nudes”, while a commenter on Facebook suggested - considering the era in which it was penned - that it might in fact have read: “please, dispatch scantily clad sketches of your figure”.
BREAKING! World’s oldest message in a bottle contained message ‘SEND NUDES’ pic.twitter.com/lIv2wmovY7
— NewsThump (@newsthump) March 6, 2018
I bet it said #WengerOUT
— Martin Elis Parry (@MartinElisParry) March 6, 2018
And it read, “Don’t vote for Trump”
— shane 🏳️🌈 (@shanecenters) March 6, 2018
Was it from Sting?
— Indisputable DT (@dt_indisputable) March 6, 2018
But not everyone was poking fun. Australians, used to a slow internet and postal service, took the opportunity to praise the speed in which the bottle travelled.
132 years to send a message, still better than my NBN
— A Barf Days Night (@drdragula) March 6, 2018
Still quicker than Aussie post
— si (@si44202546) March 6, 2018
The bottle will be on display at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Perth for the next two years.
