World’s oldest message in a bottle found on Australian beach after 132 years
Gin bottle was thrown overboard from a German ship before ending up on a beach in Western Australia 132 years later
The world’s oldest message in a bottle has been found on a beach in Western Australia by a couple who thought it might “look good on a bookshelf”.
Tonya Illman found the 132-year-old gin bottle in the dunes near Wedge Island in January. Her husband, Kym Illman, said she initially thought it was rubbish but picked it up because it had distinct, raised lettering and would be at home on their bookshelf.
Inside, she found a roll of paper printed in German and dated to 12 June 1886, which was authenticated by the Western Australian Museum.
“It was an absolute fluke. It won’t get better than this,” said husband Kym Illman.
The bottle had been thrown overboard from the German sailing ship Paula in 1886 as it crossed the Indian Ocean, 950km from the Australian coast, according to Ross Anderson, the museum’s assistant curator of maritime archaeology.
At the time, German ships were conducting a 69-year experiment that involved throwing thousands of bottles into the sea to track ocean currents.