海洋生物学家比德当时正研究海水的流向,在一九○四至○六年间,在海中放下约一千个瓶子,瓶中藏着信件。大部分瓶子音信全无,比德亦于四十多年后离世。唯独这个瓶子于去年四月十七日,给德国阿姆鲁姆岛一名退休邮差发现,他透过信件找到比德当时所属的海洋生物协会(MBA)。
专家检验后,证实瓶中信在一九○六年十一月三十日放进海中,漂流一百零八年又一百三十八天,打破旧有的纪录。旧纪录的瓶中信在海中漂流了九十九年又四十三日,当时投信人也是在做类似的水流研究。

A message-in-a-bottle tossed into the sea by British scientists which washed ashore in Germany more than 100 years has been confirmed as the world's oldest

The historic missive was sent by British scientist George Parker Bidder between 1904 and 1906

The bottle included a postcard and the promise of a shilling to the finder