A message in a bottle that washed up more
than 108 years after it was thrown into the
sea may be the world's oldest, a marine association
has said.
The bottle was released in the North Sea between
1904 and 1906 and found by a woman on a beach
in Amrum, Germany.
Inside a postcard asked that it be sent to
the Marine Biological Association of the UK,
where the bottle was returned.
The association in Plymouth said the bottle
was one of some 1,000 released as part of
marine research.
The research, looking at ocean currents, was
carried out by George Parker Bidder, who went
on to become MBA president from 1939 to 1945.
Inside each bottle was a postcard that promised
a shilling to anyone who returned it.
An old English shilling was sent by the association
to retired postal worker Marianne Winkler,
who found the bottle in April during her holiday
to the German island, about 310 miles (500km)
away from the UK.
The association said it was waiting to hear
whether it was a world record for the oldest
message in a bottle found.
The existing world record for the oldest message
in a bottle is 99 years and 43 days, found
west of the Shetland Islands in July 2013.
