Examples of Amazing Real Messages in Bottles Found in 2015
2015 was a great year for messages in bottles! Old friendships were revived; new friendships were made; final words from lost loved ones washed ashore. Full of powerful coincidences and connections, 2015 was sort of a message in a bottle in itself: the year was the bottle, and these lovely little examples of the goodness that comes of being kind to each other were the messages. So, cheers to another year of magical, amazing, strange, lovely messages in bottles!
1. A Friendship Reignited by a Message in a Bottle
In this story, a group of old friends who hadn’t seen each other much lately finds their friendship revived by the arrival in the mail of a message in a bottle they’d sent together in 1999. It was found in the Philippines and returned just recently. Sweeeet!
Photo: KING 5 News
2. Love, Loss, and Hope in a Bottle
A man who lost his wife of nearly 40 years–the love of his life–wrote a tribute to her, put it in a bottle, and released it into the sea. Now, the finders and sender hope to meet in person and build on their budding friendship.
Gerry and Mary-Ann McDonald With Message in a Bottle. Photo: Nigel Hallett.
3. The Boston Time Capsule Left by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams in 1795
Ok, ok–while technically not a message in a bottle, this time capsule is so cool, and the spirit of it is so similar to a message in a bottle, that I had to include it. I mean, this is THE Paul Revere and THE Sam Adams we’re talking about! Ridiculously cool.
4. The World’s Oldest Message in a Bottle Washes Ashore in Germany
When Marianne Winkler found this message in a bottle in 2015, it instantly became the oldest ever found! In following years, older and older messages in bottles were found, but none have diminished the outright coolness of Winkler’s find. The full story is worth a read 🙂 This is just one more great example of a message in a bottle from 2015 that blew minds around the world.
Photo: Marianne Winkler and Winkler Family
5. This Message in a Bottle, Found Floating in the Sea by a Snorkler!
There you are…snorkeling along over a reef…you look up to clear your goggles…what’s that floating there? Oh great. Another piece of trash. Better grab it so you can recycle it when you get home… But wait… there’s something in it… It’s a rolled up piece of paper! Gaaahhhh!!!
And oh, by the way, there was ANOTHER message in a bottle found in 2015 while it was floating in the freaking ocean. How can this be?! Here’s the other story.
Photo: Rory Golden, Bottle Finder
Good grief. I need to swim more.
I just love this story–it’s a message written by two kids who forget about it. 40 years later, a young couple finds the note, and connect with the sender, now a scientist, who gifts them coffee and chocolate from her Hawaiian farm as a reward. Read more here.
But I have to admit, as meticulous as I am about opening messages in bottles, that watching the video of the finder breaking this bottle on a windy beach where the wind blows the fragile old notes down the shoreline as they are chased by a curious and possibly hungry dog gave me such bad anxiety I almost passed out. Next time, Mikki, pretty please open the bottle at home–spare my heart!
7. A Heartbreaking, Bittersweet Message in a Bottle From a Bright Young Girl
Delaney Riley, 10 years old, was a special young lady–you can tell that just from reading the message she wrote with her best friend Abigail in June 2015. Tragically, Delaney died suddenly from an undetected heart defect en route to school one morning in Fall 2015. A few weeks later, her message washed ashore. The finders, incredibly, were another pair of young girls–also best friends, and the same ages as Riley and her friend Abigail. They returned the message to Delaney’s family. Delaney is described as someone wise beyond her years, and I feel compelled to echo the sentiment she and Abigail share in their message: GIRLS RULE! It is both heartbreaking and wonderful that Delaney’s family was able to receive one last letter from her.
8. This Rescue Dog Found a Message in a Bottle
Sheba, the Rescue Dog! Photo: Idris Martin
Sheba, a rescue dog, prefers to play fetch with bottles full of water–apparently she doesn’t go in much for the traditional sticks or balls. One day while playing on the beach, Idris Martin, her trainer, threw a bottle for her, but Sheba returned with a different bottle–one containing rolls of paper. The papers turned out to include a note and several drawings from children.
Sent from the coast of Bulgaria over a year earlier, the bottle had to float a crazy route to reach the coast of England, as shown in the map below.
Map Credit: The Dodo
While looking at the map, you may have forgotten how sweet Sheba is, so here she is again, with her human. Thanks to Idris for the pictures!
9. Message in a Bottle Sent by Boy to Pirates Receives Pirate Reply
As The Little Prince so astutely observes, grown-ups are often… well… uninspiring. So it’s refreshing to learn of a few willing to be the pirates that Archie (I mean Aaarrrrrchie!), age 9, sought with his message in a bottle. A little more whimsy and imagination would do this world a lot of good, don’t you think? The creative and kind example set by this message in a bottle exchange show us the path!
Here’s to a happy and imaginative 2016!
Cheers for now, ye scurvy bilge-rats!