A MESSAGE in a bottle has floated across the Atlantic Ocean for thousands of miles before washing up on Aberdaron Beach.

Mike Ingman, 37, was holidaying in the area when he and his dog stumbled across an unusual bottle with something rolled up inside.

After retrieving the contents, Mike was astonished to discover the message had travelled all the way from the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.

The note read: “This bottle was tossed over the side of the fishing vessel Arctic Eagle on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada whilst fishing for Snow Crab.”

The letter also included contact information for Craig Drover, the person who launched the bottle.

Rather than just using the contact information, Mike, who often works on the offshore windfarms off north Wales, decided to try to reach Craig via social media.

He posted his story on his Facebook page and the post has subsequently been shared more than 7,500 times since he found the bottle on Tuesday, 29 December.

Within just a few hours Craig had been made aware of Mike’s discovery and the duo have been in close contact since.

Craig was delighted to hear about the exploits of one of his bottles.

“I’ve been sending out bottles for about six years now,” the Canadian fisherman told the Cambrian News.

“I’ve had responses from England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and, recently, one from the Bahamas - this is the first from Wales though.

“It’s the first time someone has contacted me through Facebook as well, that was a nice idea, the internet is a wonderful thing.”

Whenever Craig releases one of his bottles, he asks the recipient to send him back the bottle from his collection but offers the letter itself as a gift.

On average, Craig has one bottle returned to him every year and Mark has promised to ship the fisherman’s bottle back to him as a souvenir.

As a mark of thanks, Craig has offered to send Mike a special Newfoundland frame to mount his letter in order to remember his rare discovery.

“It was great to hear back from Craig and I’ve sent him some photos and coordinates of where the bottle ended up,” Mike said.

“It was fantastic finding the bottle, it really cheered me up!”