Message In A Bottle From Cruise Ship Found On Other Side Of The World

A small paper in Canada today has the amazing story of a "message in a bottle" from a cruise ship that apparently traveled half way around the world before landing in Mexico.

The Flamborough Review of Waterdown, Canada says local resident Brian Harding threw the champagne bottle off a ship in November as it steamed through the Straits of Gibraltar on the way to Portugal.

Harding figured that was that, until a few days ago, when he got a call from Mexico. Jane Nelson of Detroit Lakes, Minn., had found the bottle while walking the shoreline near her winter home on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Review says.

The news outlet notes Harding had written "I’m stranded on a desert island" on a note placed in the bottle, along with his name and phone number.

“It was just a joke,” Harding tells the paper, adding that he never expected to get a response to the message. “I completely forgot about it until . . . I got the phone call."

It isn't the first time a message in a bottle has weathered an improbable journey. In October, a bottle from a Holland America ship was found on a Caribbean island beach after surviving 35 years at sea.