Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Message in a bottle off Scottish coast is world's oldest

LONDON -- It was scooped up from the sea after 98 years, and officials say a message in a bottle discovered in Scotland has set a world record.

Fisherman Andrew Leaper found the bottle-- released in 1914 -- in his nets in April while sailing east of the Shetland Islands, off Scotland's northern coast.

Guinness World Records confirmed Thursday the find is the oldest message in a bottle ever recovered, beating a previous record by five years.

It was released in a batch of 1,890 bottles in a government experiment to map the undercurrents of the seas around Scotland.

Inside each bottle, a postcard asks the finder to record details of the discovery and promises a reward of a sixpence. Unfortunately for Leaper, the coin no longer exists.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2012 A20

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