Message in a bottle found after 97 years

 A message in a bottle lost at sea for nearly a century has claimed a new world record, Guinness officials have confirmed.

The 97-year-old letter, discovered just off the Shetland isles, claims the title for the longest time a bottle has been adrift at sea by five years.

It was discovered by Scottish skipper Andrew Leaper as he hauled in his fishing nets, who described the astonishing find as like 'winning the lottery.'
Coincidentally, the 43-year-old was skippering the same boat which had set the previous record, the Shetland-based vessel Copious.

Previous record holder Mark Anderson was also on board when the bottle was found.
'As we hauled in the nets I spotted the bottle neck sticking out and I quickly grabbed it before it fell back in the sea,' Mr Leaper said.

'I am immensely proud to be the finder of the world record message in a bottle. It was very exciting to find the bottle and I couldn't wait to open it.
'It's like winning the lottery twice.'

He added: 'I can tell you that my friend Mark Anderson is very unhappy that I have topped his record! He never stopped talking about it.'

The bottle was part of a batch of 1,890 released as part of a scientific research project to map the currents of the seas around Scotland. Only 315 have been found.
Released in June 1914 by Captain CH Brown of the Glasgow School of Navigation, it contained a postcard promising a reward of six pence to the finder.

A spokesperson for Guinness World Records said: 'We are pleased to hear that the same vessel helped to break the Guinness World Record for oldest message in a bottle twice.
'This is a fascinating record, both historically and scientifically.

'We hope that future expeditions will retrieve more of these treasured messages from the sea.'
Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said: 'It's amazing that nearly 98 years on bottles are still being returned to the marine laboratory, and in such fantastic condition.
'With many bottles still unreturned there is always the chance in the coming years that a Scottish drift bottle will once again break the record.'

Mr Leaper has donated to the bottle to the Fetlar Interpretative Centre in Shetland.


/metro.co.uk/