Message in a bottle
Encyclopedia
A message in a bottle is a form of communication whereby a message is sealed in a container (archetypically a glass bottle
, but could be any medium, so long as it floats and remains waterproof) and released into the sea
or ocean
. Among other purposes they are used for scientific studies of ocean currents.
philosopher
Theophrastus
, as part of an experiment to show that the Mediterranean Sea
was formed by the inflowing Atlantic Ocean
.
On his return to Spain
following his first voyage to the New World
, Christopher Columbus
's ship entered a severe storm. Columbus threw a report of his discovery along with a note asking it to be passed on to the Queen of Spain, in a sealed cask into the sea, hoping the news would make it back even if he did not survive. In fact, Columbus survived and the sealed report was never found, or at least, its discovery never reported.
In the 16th century, the English navy
, among others, used bottle messages to send ashore information about enemy positions. Queen Elizabeth I
even created an official position of "Uncorker of Ocean Bottles", and anyone else opening the bottles could face the death penalty
.
In 1784 Chunosuke Matsuyama sent a message detailing his and 43 shipmates' shipwrecking in a bottle that washed ashore and was found by a Japanese seaweed collector in 1935, in the village of Hiraturemura, the birthplace of Chunosuke Matsuyama.
In 1914, British World War I
soldier Private Thomas Hughes tossed a green ginger beer bottle containing a letter to his wife into the English Channel
. He was killed two days later fighting in France. In 1999, fisherman Steve Gowan dredged up the bottle in the River Thames
. Although the intended recipient of the letter had died in 1979, it was delivered in 1999 to Private Hughes' 86-year old daughter living in New Zealand
.
In February 1916 the doomed crew of Zeppelin L 19
dropped their last messages to their superiors and loved ones into the North Sea. These washed up on the Kattegat
coast near Gothenburg
, Sweden six months later.
On a lonely night in December 1945, American World War II
veteran Frank Hayostek
tossed a bottle over the side of his ship. It was recovered by an Irish milk maid, Breda O'Sullivan who set off an exchange of letters that lasted seven years before the two finally met amid an international media circus. Despite (or perhaps because of) the media attention, the two were never able to get their romance off the ground.
In May 2005 eighty-eight shipwrecked migrants
were rescued off the coast of Costa Rica
. They had placed an SOS message in a bottle and tied it to one of the long lines of a passing fishing boat.
According to Guinness World Records
, the oldest message in a bottle spent 92 years 229 days at sea. A bottom drift bottle, numbered 423B, was released at 60º 50'N 00º 38'W (about halfway between Aberdeen, Scotland and the coast of Denmark
) on April 25, 1914 and recovered by fisherman Mark Anderson of Bixter, Shetland, UK, on December 10, 2006.
is a similar method of sending undirected messages through the air. The advantage of balloon mail is that it can be launched anywhere and can in principle reach any point on Earth. A further advantage is that it can be launched more easily, since a bottle dropped into the ocean could be washed back to land by the surf.
The glass interior shell of the Westinghouse Time Capsules
of the 1939 New York World's Fair
and 1964 New York World's Fair
was made of Pyrex
, where the exterior metal casing was a special copper alloy of "Cupaloy" (1938) or "Kromarc" stainless steel (1965) to withstand the effects of 5000 years of time, when they are expected to arrive to the people intended.
The U.S.
space agency NASA
has launched several interstellar "messages in bottles." A graphic message in the form of a 6 by 9-inch gold-anodized aluminium plaque, known as the Pioneer plaque
, was bolted to the frames of the Pioneer 10
(launched on March 2, 1972) and Pioneer 11
(launched on April 5, 1973) spacecraft
.
In August and September 1977, NASA launched two spacecrafts, together called the Voyager Project
. Each carries a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk, known as the Voyager Golden Record
, containing recorded sounds and images representing human cultures and life on Earth
.
In 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2008 the Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope
has transmitted messages to any potential extraterrestrial civilizations
:
Bottle
A bottle is a rigid container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth". By contrast, a jar has a relatively large mouth or opening. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft...
, but could be any medium, so long as it floats and remains waterproof) and released into the sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
or ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
. Among other purposes they are used for scientific studies of ocean currents.
History
The first recorded messages in bottles were released around 310 BC by the Ancient GreekAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
, as part of an experiment to show that the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
was formed by the inflowing Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
On his return to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
following his first voyage to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
's ship entered a severe storm. Columbus threw a report of his discovery along with a note asking it to be passed on to the Queen of Spain, in a sealed cask into the sea, hoping the news would make it back even if he did not survive. In fact, Columbus survived and the sealed report was never found, or at least, its discovery never reported.
In the 16th century, the English navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, among others, used bottle messages to send ashore information about enemy positions. Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
even created an official position of "Uncorker of Ocean Bottles", and anyone else opening the bottles could face the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
.
In 1784 Chunosuke Matsuyama sent a message detailing his and 43 shipmates' shipwrecking in a bottle that washed ashore and was found by a Japanese seaweed collector in 1935, in the village of Hiraturemura, the birthplace of Chunosuke Matsuyama.
In 1914, British World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
soldier Private Thomas Hughes tossed a green ginger beer bottle containing a letter to his wife into the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. He was killed two days later fighting in France. In 1999, fisherman Steve Gowan dredged up the bottle in the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. Although the intended recipient of the letter had died in 1979, it was delivered in 1999 to Private Hughes' 86-year old daughter living in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
In February 1916 the doomed crew of Zeppelin L 19
Zeppelin L.19 (LZ 54)
The airship L.19 was a World War I, Zeppelin of the German Kaiserliche Marine . While returning from her first bombing raid on the United Kingdom in early-1916, she came down in the North Sea...
dropped their last messages to their superiors and loved ones into the North Sea. These washed up on the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
coast near Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden six months later.
On a lonely night in December 1945, American World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran Frank Hayostek
Frank Hayostek
Frank Hayostek is an American veteran of World War II who gained international notoriety for his attempts to spark a relationship with an Irish milkmaid met through a message in a bottle. The event became a media circus on both sides of the Atlantic.On Christmas, 1945, Medical Corpsman Frank...
tossed a bottle over the side of his ship. It was recovered by an Irish milk maid, Breda O'Sullivan who set off an exchange of letters that lasted seven years before the two finally met amid an international media circus. Despite (or perhaps because of) the media attention, the two were never able to get their romance off the ground.
In May 2005 eighty-eight shipwrecked migrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
were rescued off the coast of Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. They had placed an SOS message in a bottle and tied it to one of the long lines of a passing fishing boat.
According to Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, the oldest message in a bottle spent 92 years 229 days at sea. A bottom drift bottle, numbered 423B, was released at 60º 50'N 00º 38'W (about halfway between Aberdeen, Scotland and the coast of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
) on April 25, 1914 and recovered by fisherman Mark Anderson of Bixter, Shetland, UK, on December 10, 2006.
Similar methods using other media
Balloon mailBalloon mail
Balloon mail refers to the transport of mail carrying the name of the sender by means of an unguided hydrogen or helium filled balloon. Since the balloon is not controllable, the delivery of a balloon mail is left to good fortune; often the balloon and postcard are lost...
is a similar method of sending undirected messages through the air. The advantage of balloon mail is that it can be launched anywhere and can in principle reach any point on Earth. A further advantage is that it can be launched more easily, since a bottle dropped into the ocean could be washed back to land by the surf.
The glass interior shell of the Westinghouse Time Capsules
Westinghouse Time Capsules
The Westinghouse Time Capsules are two time capsules prepared by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company: "Time Capsule I", created for the 1939 New York World's Fair; and "Time Capsule II", created for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Both are buried 50 feet below Flushing Meadows Park,...
of the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
and 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
was made of Pyrex
Pyrex
Pyrex is a brand name for glassware, introduced by Corning Incorporated in 1915.Originally, Pyrex was made from borosilicate glass. In the 1940s the composition was changed for some products to tempered soda-lime glass, which is the most common form of glass used in glass bakeware in the US and has...
, where the exterior metal casing was a special copper alloy of "Cupaloy" (1938) or "Kromarc" stainless steel (1965) to withstand the effects of 5000 years of time, when they are expected to arrive to the people intended.
The U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
space agency NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
has launched several interstellar "messages in bottles." A graphic message in the form of a 6 by 9-inch gold-anodized aluminium plaque, known as the Pioneer plaque
Pioneer plaque
The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold-anodized aluminium plaques which were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 are intercepted by extraterrestrial life...
, was bolted to the frames of the Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
(launched on March 2, 1972) and Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 is a 259-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 6, 1973 to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind, cosmic rays, and eventually the far reaches of the solar system and heliosphere...
(launched on April 5, 1973) spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
.
In August and September 1977, NASA launched two spacecrafts, together called the Voyager Project
Voyager program
The Voyager program is a U.S program that launched two unmanned space missions, scientific probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment of the late 1970s...
. Each carries a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk, known as the Voyager Golden Record
Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
, containing recorded sounds and images representing human cultures and life on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
In 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2008 the Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope
Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope
The Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope is an RT-70 radio telescope and planetary radar at the Center for Deep Space Communications, Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine. In the scientific literature is often called Evpatoria planetary radar .With its 70m antenna diameter, it is among the largest single dish...
has transmitted messages to any potential extraterrestrial civilizations
Active SETI
Active SETI is the attempt to send messages to intelligent aliens. Active SETI messages are usually in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the Pioneer plaque may also be considered an active SETI message...
:
- Cosmic CallCosmic CallCosmic Call was the name of two interstellar radio messages that were sent from RT-70 in Yevpatoria in 1999 and 2003 to various nearby stars. The messages were designed with noise resistant format and characters....
- Teen Age MessageTeen Age MessageThe Teen Age Message was a METI message, transmitted from the Yevpatoria Planetary Radar to 6 nearby Sun-like stars during August–September 2001. Unlike the previous digital-only Messages, Arecibo-1974 and Cosmic Call 1, the TAM has complex, three-section structure with different forms of...
- Cosmic Call 2
- A Message From EarthA Message From EarthA Message from Earth is a high-powered digital radio signal that was sent on 9 October 2008 towards Gliese 581 c, a large terrestrial extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. The signal is a digital time capsule containing 501 messages that were selected through a competition on...
In popular culture
- Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
wrote a short story entitled "MS. Found in a BottleMS. Found in a Bottle"MS. Found in a Bottle" is an 1833 short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The plot follows an unnamed narrator at sea who finds himself in a series of harrowing circumstances. As he nears his own disastrous death while his ship drives ever southward, he writes an "MS.", or manuscript...
", possibly intended as a satire of sea tales. - The PoliceThe PoliceThe Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
recorded a song titled "Message in a BottleMessage in a Bottle (song)"Message in a Bottle" is a 1979 song by The Police, from their second album, Reggatta de Blanc.The song is ostensibly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is...
" in 1979. It was their first number one hit in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - EyedeaEyedeaMicheal Larsen , known by his stage name Eyedea, was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. His notable wins included the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO and a victory at Scribble Jam...
wrote a song called "Bottle Dreams", which refers to a girl who sends a daily message in a bottle into a river; after her death about 500 messages in bottles are found. - Nicholas SparksNicholas Sparks (author)Nicholas Charles Sparks is an internationally-bestselling American novelist and screenwriter. He has 16 published novels, with thematic ideas that include cancer, death and love. Six have been adapted to film, including Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe,...
's novel Message in a Bottle was made into a film of the same nameMessage in a Bottle (film)Message in a Bottle is a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki. Based on a novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks, the film stars Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, and Paul Newman...
in 1999. - In the 1977 Disney animated film, The RescuersThe RescuersThe Rescuers is a 1977 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on June 22, 1977. The 23rd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization headquartered in New York and shadowing...
, captured protagonist Penny sent out a distress message in a bottle at the beginning of the movie in the hopes that someone will find it and rescue her. - In the 2009 BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy sketch series BigipediaBigipediaBigipedia is a comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 that first aired between 23 July and 13 August 2009. A second series of four episodes began on 12 July, 2011. The show's storyline revolves around "Bigipedia", a fictional website broadcast on radio, intended to be a parody of Wikipedia,...
one sketch covered the history of "The Desert Island Bore", a woman who has written more messages in bottles than anyone in history, but has never been rescued from the desert island because all the letters are boring.