Msg in a Bottle

[rjnaz]

:confused:When I was 14 I tossed a bottle off a ship on a cross atlantic trip in 1964,...never heard anything since...it had a note,,coins ,stamps and address to the us embassy in madrid.....could still be floating out there somewhere....maybe Tom Hanks found it during his castaway stay.....:D

[rjnaz]

"THROW THE BOTTLE" It is a tradition of the sea.:D

;) so is walking the blank....but we don't do that any more either? or do we??????:D

[Keith1010]

The issue is that nowadays cruise ships ask that passengers not throw items overboard. Even bottles.

 

Keith

[Almost Packed]

we probably shouldn't pee in the ocean either...but i'm pretty sure it happens!

 

i wonder what all those vacationers urinating in the ocean does?:eek:

 

lol.

[jpkrp]

Boy did I start something.. This little post has more replys than my roll call. Does everyone know where there human waste goes when they are on a cruise? I'll bet ya it gets sorta treated then out the bilge. I think i'd rather have a few bottles in the ocean.

[Putterdude]

As I recall there are notices posted on ships as to what may be thrown overboard at certain distances from the shore...maybe someone has a photo of such a notice and if not I will try to remember to take such a picture next week when we are on the Sapphire.

[Traveler353]

;) so is walking the blank....but we don't do that any more either? or do we??????:D

 

Maybe they should still be doing that for some people.:p

[rjnaz]

we probably shouldn't pee in the ocean either...but i'm pretty sure it happens!

 

i wonder what all those vacationers urinating in the ocean does?:eek:

 

lol.

global warming of course!!!!!!!!!:eek:

Edited September 11, 2009 by rjnaz
spelling

[B+S]

This whole debate sort of reminds me of the USDA Forrest Service telling people to "Please stay on the walking path out of respect for the delicate plants" on one side of a wilderness only to lease 100,000 acres on the other side to ranchers with thousands of hungry cows.

 

Glass is silica, in essence sand. It is as inert and as innocuous as any substance could possibly be. While I would never, ever, support littering in any way I feel that if a few people want to write a note and toss it overboard there is less harm to the environment than a few seconds worth of the ship's smokestack. We all pollute (and do more harm) every time we set sail on a cruise.

 

To me a message in a bottle is not really litter. If thousands wanted to do this on every cruise, well we'll deal with that when the time comes.

 

I live on the southern Oregon Coast, tossed a bottle out one wintry day and just a few weeks later it was found in British Columbia. There was no harm. I find bottles on our beach too, they rarely ever have notes, and those that do are like interesting time capsules, those that do not are just litter.

Edited September 13, 2009 by B+S

[Putterdude]

This whole debate sort of reminds me of the USDA Forrest Service telling people to "Please stay on the walking path out of respect for the delicate plants" on one side of a wilderness only to lease 100,000 acres on the other side to ranchers with thousands of hungry cows.

 

Glass is silica, in essence sand. It is as inert and as innocuous as any substance could possibly be. While I would never, ever, support littering in any way I feel that if a few people want to write a note and toss it overboard there is less harm to the environment than a few seconds worth of the ship's smokestack. We all pollute (and do more harm) every time we set sail on a cruise.

 

To me a message in a bottle is not really litter. If thousands wanted to do this on every cruise, well we'll deal with that when the time comes.

 

I live on the southern Oregon Coast, tossed a bottle out one wintry day and just a few weeks later it was found in British Columbia. There was no harm. I find bottles on our beach too, they rarely ever have notes, and those that do are like interesting time capsules, those that do not are just litter.

 

Gosh, I hate it when someone makes sense!!!:D

[B+S]

As I recall there are notices posted on ships as to what may be thrown overboard at certain distances from the shore...maybe someone has a photo of such a notice and if not I will try to remember to take such a picture next week when we are on the Sapphire.

 

I've seen no such notice on ships, including the Sapphire, but boy did we sure like her! Especially the quiet, nearly empty (some days) bar all the way up and aft there are a few seats that actually hang out over the side of the rest of the ship allowing you a captains styled view. Have a GREAT trip!!

 

Oh, and throw a bottle for us, but make sure you don't get arrested and thrown off! It is said it takes about three years for the current to do a full circle in the Pacific.

Edited September 13, 2009 by B+S

[atog254]

Recently saw a news report regarding a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was larger than the state of Texas! I had no idea.

 

If you can find this on Youtube this is a "Must See!"

 

I have actually picked up garbage and placed same into refuge cans when possible.

 

You and only you must decide how you want to handle this!

 

SC

[B+S]

Recently saw a news report regarding a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was larger than the state of Texas! I had no idea.

 

If you can find this on Youtube this is a "Must See!"

 

I have actually picked up garbage and placed same into refuge cans when possible.

 

You and only you must decide how you want to handle this!

 

SC

 

You are correct. This an ecological disaster that most folks don't know about created mostly with very small, even microscopic, pieces of plastic.

 

The first Beach Cleanup in the nation was held here in Oregon in 1984. Since then, annual beach cleanups have spread to every state in the Union, all US territories and more than 100 countries around the world. In 2006, 358,617 volunteers picked up over 7 million pounds of trash from 34,560 miles of coastline nationwide. It is sickening to know there are lost nylon nets out there floating around destroying everything that gets caught in them.

 

Unfortunately Beach Clean Up days have minimal impact on "The Pacific Garbage Patch", and glass bottles with messages in them are not an attributable cause of that issue, so they are two separate issues, and the third issue is the pollution caused by the cruise ship industry itself... (us!).

 

Here are just a few links for the curious:

Excerpts from Trashed - By Charles Moore

Greenpeace Article on the Pacific Garbage Patch

 

Discover Magazine: The World's Largest Dump: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 

Oregon's Beach Clean Up

Lastly here is an article on cruise ship pollution from wikipedia

[pms4104]

Recently saw a news report regarding a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was larger than the state of Texas! I had no idea.

 

If you can find this on Youtube this is a "Must See!"

 

I have actually picked up garbage and placed same into refuge cans when possible.

 

You and only you must decide how you want to handle this!

 

SC

Didn't go to Youtube to see the floating mass of garbage ... but I do recall that when I did Customs brokerage for air and ocean freight, there were occasions when container ships would hit really nasty weather and, to save the ship and crew, they tossed off some of the cargo-laden containers ... you know, 48- or 53-footers.

 

So, imagine the ocean floor littered with containers full of athletic shoes, TV's, garments, and just about anything else exported/imported around the world. When I was a newbie in brokerage I'd heard the stories and thought they were some kind of urban myth ... til it happened to one of my clients, Sears.

 

Not saying it's right, but that's the way it is. And, I suppose it's a choice between several containers going overboard or the entire ship, and many more containers, sinking to the bottom.

[B+S]

 

So, imagine the ocean floor littered with containers full of athletic shoes...thought they were some kind of urban myth ...

 

Here's the Nike Overboard Container Story - you're right, it's true.

[OceansOfTravels]

Reviving this old cruise thread. Are laws stricter or looser about it since 2009? Has anyone ever done it or has anyone heard about someone doing it in recent days?

 

Let's get some discussion going. :D

[B+S]

Wow, like a message in a bottle this thread floats again!

 

My feeling is that there has been tremendous research and education in the past few years about floating oceanic garbage and that it would be construed as "in poor taste" to throw a bottle with a message in it overboard publicly.

 

Furthermore, no one should ever throw anything plastic overboard. Ever. I have seen beaches with literally thousands of plastic bottles this year... sad. In the US they get picked up by cleanup groups. Elsewhere, not so much.

 

However, discretely throwing a message in a glass bottle overboard... I think that's still OK, probably not politically correct, but about as innocuous as it gets. And, technically it's not garbage as it a vessel intentionally left as a message. But aboard a cruise ship? I'd be very discrete about it.

 

You may know, Christopher Columbus knew there had to be something beyond the edge of the Atlantic Ocean because things had been floating onto European beaches for centuries that did not themselves exist in Europe.

[OceansOfTravels]

Wow, like a message in a bottle this thread floats again!

 

My feeling is that there has been tremendous research and education in the past few years about floating oceanic garbage and that it would be construed as "in poor taste" to throw a bottle with a message in it overboard publicly.

 

Furthermore, no one should ever throw anything plastic overboard. Ever. I have seen beaches with literally thousands of plastic bottles this year... sad. In the US they get picked up by cleanup groups. Elsewhere, not so much.

 

However, discretely throwing a message in a glass bottle overboard... I think that's still OK, probably not politically correct, but about as innocuous as it gets. And, technically it's not garbage as it a vessel intentionally left as a message. But aboard a cruise ship? I'd be very discrete about it.

 

You may know, Christopher Columbus knew there had to be something beyond the edge of the Atlantic Ocean because things had been floating onto European beaches for centuries that did not themselves exist in Europe.

 

I was hoping you would reply, you had great commentary in the posts about 7 years ago. Glad you responded :)

 

I assume if done from a lower deck at a late hour with minimal to no witnesses, it would not be that big of a deal. But I do understand the anger and restriction towards it. I guess for those who decide to do it, as you said, should be extremely discrete and lowkey.

 

To both send and find a message in a bottle is on my bucket list, guess I'll have to pick a different venue to send one. It sucks though, I can already picture me in the scene from Titanic :D

[B+S]

Here's a few bottles that have rolled their way up into a coastal ravine. More on the way!

 

[lisiamc]

I can't help channeling my mother here, and saying "Suppose all of the 20,000,000+ people who cruise every year all threw a bottle in the ocean. Where would we be then, missy? I'll tell you where. We couldn't even see the ocean for all the bottles, that's where!!" So listen to my mother, and don't do it! :)

Edited July 30, 2016 by lisiamc

[chengkp75]

I was hoping you would reply, you had great commentary in the posts about 7 years ago. Glad you responded :)

 

I assume if done from a lower deck at a late hour with minimal to no witnesses, it would not be that big of a deal. But I do understand the anger and restriction towards it. I guess for those who decide to do it, as you said, should be extremely discrete and lowkey.

 

To both send and find a message in a bottle is on my bucket list, guess I'll have to pick a different venue to send one. It sucks though, I can already picture me in the scene from Titanic :D

 

It is against international law to throw anything other than ground up food waste overboard. And there are even restrictions on this food waste when in special areas like the Greater Caribbean Area. Remember that the ship has surveillance cameras that cover the sides and stern of the ship, so you could possibly be captured on camera, and since the cruise lines are under heavy scrutiny for past violations of MARPOL, and the hope of people getting rewards for reporting MARPOL violations, the cruise line would not hesitate to ensure that any fine is passed to you. Fines can range from thousands of dollars for a single violation to millions.

[mrs and mrs]

I'm so scared to comment, I think I will turn the light off and hide under the blanket.

[spookwife]

HMMM,

didn't i read somewhere that ships are "allowed" to dump their garbage/waste into our precious oceans? but most don't use their "full allowable dumping limits".

 

personally, i don't see throwing a bottle with a message overboard a big deal. it's not like it's broken...and it's not trash...once it floats on to the shore...someone picks it up....and hopefully then recycles it.

 

anyways....yes, i know throwing anything overboard is prohibited. i wonder if the idiots who throw themselves overboard are given that same fine. hmmm. a 5k fine does not seem to deter them:eek:

 

waste is biodegradable and they have strict limits on what can and cannot be tossed overboard

 

Glass DOES Break and it can do so even hitting the water after being thrown overboard, it can also interfere with marine life.( ever see a few species of whale feed?! yeah they scoop up hundreds and thousands of gallons at once and only the water is strained through the baleen) how would YOU like to get a champagne bottle stuck in your craw?!

 

it may not seem a big deal to YOU.. but I assure you to many others it is disrespectful of our planet at best and damned irresponsible.

[spookwife]

Do you know how much junk is thrown into the sea from all ships? And not just cruise ships but freighters, cargo, Navy, and almost everything else. The industry wants everyone to believe they are all "Eco-Friendly" but it is all about $$ or saving $. Do you really think they care about a bottle being tossed over? I am sure "Barney Fife" of the sea here will try to scare you by saying he will lock you up and send you Alcatraz, but I doubt that anything will happen..

 

oh REALLY?! as a spouse of a 20 year Sea going Squid, I can assure you what the Navy tosses overboard is a drop compared to what they compress and stash until it can be properly disposed of on shore.

 

the FINES the Navy has paid out over the years due to mistakes, negligence and breakdowns of equipment would make you suck your teeth in amazement.

 

you callous disregard of the largest ecosystem on this planet is disgusting. the oceans go, the human race goes.

[spookwife]

Recently saw a news report regarding a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was larger than the state of Texas! I had no idea.

 

If you can find this on Youtube this is a "Must See!"

 

I have actually picked up garbage and placed same into refuge cans when possible.

 

You and only you must decide how you want to handle this!

 

SC

 

do a little research on the Christmas Tsunami and the Fukushima Tsunami. on the latter , entire houses are out there floating in a pile.