Dog finds Canadian message in a bottle on Aberdeenshire beach

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This photo of Maggie the dog was taken after the bottle was opened

A message in a bottle dropped from a boat off Canada has been found washed up in the north-east of Scotland.

The short letter, written in French and dated in 2024, was found inside the bottle at St Cyrus in Aberdeenshire. Having travelled across the Atlantic, it was found by one of Mike Scott's dogs during a beach walk. The 60-year-old said he was "amazed" by the bottle's journey of about 2,700 miles (4,300km).

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The bottle floated across the Atlantic

The professional photographer from Johnshaven takes his dogs to St Cyrus most days for a walk. He described the weather as "wild" at the time they discovered the bottle. "As I was walking, Maggie my dog was sniffing a bottle that was just washing up. It was a really dark glass bottle with a lid and something in it."

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The blue letter was inside a brown bottle

He explained: "I had found a message in a bottle before, but it was just from Dundee, so I was not expecting much. There was a zip bag in it, and a letter in French. I put it in my rucksack and put it on translate when I got home."

The note - which appeared to be signed 'Annie Chiasson' - said the bottle had been put to sea from a ferry travelling between Prince Edward Island and Iles-de-la-Madeleine in August 2024.

Scott said: "So the small glass bottle has survived two winters at sea, traveling from the east coast of Canada, across the north Atlantic, over the top of Scotland and down into the North Sea for us to find at St Cyrus."

"The sender was asking to let them know if found," he said. "We found the woman on Facebook, my wife sent a message, but we have heard nothing back."

BBC Scotland News has also tried to contact the sender.

Scott said: "It was such a weird thing to find, it's not just our own rubbish that washes up. It's amazing it was not smashed. I do not imagine she thought it would end up in Scotland across the Atlantic."