Message in a bottle found on VK0M by sub-Antarctic station

An intriguing mysterious discovery. One report speculates a possible amateur radio connection and asks for any possible assistance. Below are bold hypertext links to the story from several sources, with some selected excerpts and photos.

73, John, WØPV

Official Australian Government web site.

The Register in the UK, which wrote this cheeky blurb,

"Assuming the bottle-chucker is not a weather or penguin researcher, we reckon there might be a ham radio link to this tale. DX-peditions are run by borderline-insane radio hams who collect the rare honour of running their kit in territory where no one has ever broadcast before. But a brief search has failed to turn up anything obvious. We know there are a fair few Reg readers who dabble in a bit of radio hamming so we're hoping you can help track down the elusive bottle-chucking Pole."

and finally, probably the most detailed and illustrated report from ABC (Australia Broadcasting),

"Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Stella Thomas was picking up marine debris from the shores of Macquarie Island when she spotted a green glass bottle, cork intact, nestled in kelp"





"With the help of forceps and her 40 colleagues, Ms Thomas extracted a message from within the wine bottle but it appeared to be blank"



"After some careful shading over the paper the message was revealed, but crucial elements of the note remain unknown"

 

41 people worked on this?!

Probably sent by STING---

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle

If I am (one who is) considered 'borderline-insane', then we are ALL in trouble...

73
Chip W1YW

 

I should be so lucky if I was ever to be considered "borderline insane" by that Register writer! Oh, well, one can always dream..

 

Furthermore, I hope that's the first and last message in a bottle ever mentioning an email address. What is this world coming to?

Call me old-fashioned, but...

 

Yes I agree it was Sting

 

I should have included the partially recovered message text info in the OP. Here is how the au.gov web link put it,

... the following partial message.

"Hi, my name is ????. I am from Poland (Europe). I am during a trip to Bouvet Island. Today is April 6th 2015. If you find this message, send email. My email address is 'JUDBAS@....PL'. "

The internet confirms that a polar cruise ship had travelled to Bouvet Island, a Norwegian volcanic island in the Southern Ocean, south west of Cape Town, during April 2015.

Any 3Y destined hams from SP recognize that email preface?

 

CZCZ
I think that was the final part of the GREAT expedition to Peter 1 Island - I was lucky to work one of the French operators while they were acting on Bouvet Island. So maybe there is some saved report of that operation and the full crew-list. I know that there were one or more great support organisations that supported them. The full info could be found in those final reports. Unfortunatly my QSLcard from Bouvet Island is down in the basement and I cannot get hold of that right now.
This is not more than the CW "E" but it is as mouch I can deliver today.
Good DX for all you, that help to activate new DXCCs.
Ginnie SM5PEY
NNNN

 

It'd be helpful if they could post a good quality scan or photo of the message, maybe someone can make out the rest of it somehow.

 

"Fake news"

If the bottle is of Polska origin it probably originally contained Vodka or Slivovic(e ).
Such clear liquids are seldom , if ever, stored in GREEN bottles.

How long does cork last in salty water? This one looks too fresh.

Beer bottles , generally of green color are seldom corked.

Do we know the original post date ? April 1st?

Does the message contains anything about
"for QSL include $5 via BOX 88 ..."



Cheers
Shirley

 

Looks like somebody's clearly out of something to do ( took 40 people to look at a message in a bottle)
I find them all the time along the coast of Belize, it's been pretty interesting over the years.

 

Send 3 green stamps and you might get a qsl via the ocean!

 

Send beer ;-)

 

I was hoping the message was from Mary Ann.

 

What's the problem - use the email address to find the sender ????